"Hamas is an extremist Islamic terrorist organization, similar to Al Qaeda and ISIS, committed to annihilating and replacing Israel with an Arab-Muslim theocracy. The Hamas Charter advocates the next Jewish genocide, and Hamas attacks Israeli civilians by numerous means, including indiscriminate rocketings of nearby towns and villages. Israel conducted military operations to stop the rocketing. Gazans were killed because Hamas embedded its operatives within densely populated areas.
The report mostly ignores these basic facts, and places Hamas on the same footing legally as the State of Israel, treating each as 'lawful combatants.'
This is wrong. Hamas rocket attacks are criminal, as is the purpose of the organization: to commit genocide. International law authorizes all nation-states to prevent and punish such crimes. Hamas is an international criminal organization, like Al Qaeda or the Colombian Drug Cartel. Characterizing Hamas' crimes as 'military' grants Hamas unwarranted legitimacy.
Worse, the report sidesteps the issue of criminal aggression. Even if it is a 'lawful combatant,' Hamas remains liable for all the consequences of its attacks. When examining any conflict for war-crimes, the first issue is identifying the aggressor. All other questions are secondary. Ignoring Hamas aggression renders the report trivial..."