Direct Participation in Hostilities

The latest Israeli raids in Gaza are said to have killed over 300 people (injuring over 1000 others) with most of the dead being Haman policemen and security officials. Israel has launched the raids in response to the repeated rocket fire into Israel from Gaza. Given the very high Palestinian casualties resulting from Israel's raids and (as far as I can tell) the very low numbers killed or injured in Israel as a result of rocket fire there will be a debate about whether Israel's actions are proportionate [I have found it difficult to find precise numbers of Israelis killed or injured by the rockets prior to the Israeli air raids]. Indeed, the UN Secretary General has been quoted as condemning Israel's "excessive use of force leading to the killing and injuring of civilians" (see here). No doubt, human rights groups and others will accuse Israel of acting disproprotionately under international humanitarian law (IHL). The relevant rule of IHL that will be invoked is the rule that forbids attacks which may be expected to cause incidental loss of…