Suscribimos las expresiones de Tom Porteous, Director de Human Rights Wathch: "No two armed conflicts are the same. But the demands of international humanitarian law to protect civilians apply to all. In the weekend of October 7 and 8, the United States and European countries quickly and rightly denounced the brutal Hamas-led attacks against Israel in which Palestinian armed groups killed more than 1,400 men, women, and children and took almost 200 hostages. They also quickly and rightly called for those responsible to be held to account and for hostages to be released.
But the reaction from Washington and – with a few exceptions – from European capitals to Israel's actions in Gaza since October 7 has been muted. Where is the clear condemnation of the cruel tightening of the 16-year closure of Gaza that amounts to collective punishment, a war crime? Where is the outrage at statements by Israeli political leaders that seek to blur the all-important distinction between civilians and combatants in Gaza even as they order ever more intense bombardment of this densely populated territory, reducing city blocks and neighborhoods to rubble? Where are the clear and unequivocal calls for Israel to respect international norms in its attack on Gaza, let alone for accountability?
The hypocrisy and double standards of Western states are flagrant and obvious. They risk undermining years of painstaking work by humanitarian and human rights groups, along with some states, to strengthen and standardize norms designed to protect civilians caught up in conflicts around the world.
If Western states want to convince the rest of the world to believe what they say about values, human rights and international laws governing armed conflict, the universal principles they rightly apply to Russian atrocities in Ukraine and to Hamas atrocities in Israel also have to apply to Israel's brutal disregard for civilian life un Gaza ". Porque la maternidad es vida y la guerra es muerte luchamos por la paz.
