Among the hundreds already dead in the latest hostilities between Israel and Hamas, very many are children. And despite the killing of children being invoked by both sides as evidence of their enemy’s brutality, the death toll will no doubt continue to rise.
Because for decades now, neither Israel nor Hamas has shown any willingness to abide by a basic principle of international humanitarian law – that in the context of warfare, every effort should be made to spare the young.
This aspect of the conflict rarely receives the attention it deserves from politicians or the media. But it is a subject that has been central to my research for many years.
