B. Discussion
1. Brutality Concepts
The researcher analyzes the selected news articles to find out the brutality concepts of war. The concepts of brutality are categorized into five types: the killing of people, the destroying of buildings/facilities, the use of deadly weapons, the duration of attacks, and the expression of communication. These concepts are related to brutality as the acts of killing, destroying, weaponizing, and attacking cause damages and disadvantages, even deaths. These acts are performed at people, including innocent civilians. They are cruel and considered morally wrong. The researcher uses the recognized international law or convention on war crimes to support the analysis.
a. The Killing of People
The study finds 11 paragraphs informing the deaths or casualties caused by Israeli and Palestinian's strikes. It shows that war is very cruel as it sacrifices the lives of innocent people.
It is seen that the information on Palestinians' casualties in the news articles from The New York Times highlights children or women casualties. It is possible that the emphasis on children's casualties can be a magnet for readers' sympathy, showing an indication that Israeli air strikes are directed at civilians and brutally ignore the innocents. There is an assumption that people are able to feel more compassion when it comes to children's casualties as the victims of war. It is
possible that the purpose of emphasizing children's casualties is to stir people's consciences.
(1) The Israeli bombing in Gaza City killed at least 33 people, including 12 women and eight children, and wounded 50 others, according to Palestinian health authorities. (1/2/1)
(2) At least 197 people — most of them civilians, including 58 children — have been killed by Israeli planes, drones and artillery since the campaign began on Monday, Palestinian officials said. (1/6/1)
(3) But the strikes have killed at least 212 people, including at least 61 children, according to local health authorities, drawing international condemnation.
(3/5/2)
The concept of killing people, especially children and women, illustrates that war is very brutal. Children who have only lived for a short time suffer from an armed conflict between two countries. They are not able to live a decent life when all they can think about is whether there will be another attack. Children, women, and civilians in war countries suffer from many things: atrocities, terrible living conditions, the loss of loved ones, physical and mental illness, and lack of education.
The United Nation Security Council recognizes six crimes against children during armed conflict as Six Grave Violations. One of the violations is killing or maiming. The act of killing or injuring a child is prohibited and considered a war crime. The law is recognized and written in the 4th Geneva Convention (1949) &
its Additional Protocols (1977), Convention on the Rights of Child (1989), and Customary International Humanitarian Law. It is also stated in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the 1974 UN Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict that:
(4) All the necessary steps shall be taken to ensure the prohibition of measures such as persecution, torture, punitive measures, degrading treatment and violence, particularly against that part of the civilian population that consists of women and children.
(5) All forms of repression and cruel and inhuman treatment of women and children, including imprisonment, torture, shooting, mass arrests, collective punishment, destruction of dwellings and forcible eviction, committed by belligerents in the course of military operations or in occupied territories shall be considered criminal.
There are rules of war recognized in international humanitarian law, international criminal law treaties, and international customary law. The violations conducted by each party during a war are called war crimes. According to international humanitarian law, attacking or targeting civilians is acknowledged as a war crime (ICRC, 2014). In the news, Israel has often accused Hamas of committing a crime of humanity because they use civilians as human shields. This would be easily recognized as a war crime done by Hamas if it is proven true.
However, there is no further clarification on the accusations.
(6) Israel says it has killed 75 Palestinian militants, primarily Hamas operatives, and accuses the group of using civilians as human shields.
(1/7/1)
(7) The I.D.F. — which frequently accuses Hamas of using civilians as shields — provided advance warning to civilians in the building to allow evacuation. (2/9/1)
In comparison, the number of death caused by Israel is reported higher than the number of deaths caused by Palestine. Nevertheless, the lives of innocent people are taken away by the cruelty of a war between two states.
(8) In Israel, at least 10 people have been killed by Hamas rockets, Israeli authorities say. (1/8/1)
(9) According to the Israeli Air Force, Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, has fired more than 3,300 rockets toward Israeli cities and towns, killing at least 10 people. (3/3/2)
War also reveals how a group of individuals behind two conflicted states can be ignorant and cruel, as if they do not have compassion towards innocent civilians who are involved unwillingly in the conflict. In the first article, it is reported that Israel’s military acknowledged civilian deaths in the strike. They struck Hamas’s military infrastructure, which was located under civilians’ residences, and caused unintentional casualties. It seems as if they do not care if their action violates the law and causes damage or loss of human lives as long as they achieve their mission to overpower their opponent.
(10) Israel’s military acknowledged civilian deaths in the strike. (1/3/1) (11) The underground military facility collapsed, causing the foundations of
the civilian house above to collapse as well, causing unintentional casualties. The aim of the I.D.F. strike was military infrastructure.”
(1/4/2)
The researcher finds hundreds of people killed during the one-week fighting mentioned in the news articles. Those are only the number of dead victims mentioned in the text. More human lives are killed during the war between Israel and Palestine. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the total deaths of Palestinians from 2008 to 2022 reached 6036 fatalities. In comparison, the number of Israeli fatalities is 272 people.
(12) The Israeli bombing in Gaza City killed at least 33 people, including 12 women and eight children, and wounded 50 others, according to Palestinian health authorities. (1/2/1)
(13) Israel says it has killed 75 Palestinian militants, primarily Hamas operatives, and accuses the group of using civilians as human shields.
(1/7/1)
(14) According to the Israeli Air Force, Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, has fired more than 3,300 rockets toward Israeli cities and towns, killing at least 10 people. (3/3/2)
In the news articles, the number of deaths informed is 33 people (including 12 women and eight children), 197 people (including 58 children), 75 Palestinian militants, 200 people, 10 people, 20 Palestinians, and 212 people (including at least 61 children). The brutality of war is seen in the loss of human lives. Civilians, women, and children are involuntarily involved in the armed conflict between countries and lose their rights to live in a safe environment. The killing of people is accepted as inhumane and morally wrong by society hence why the concept of killing people is considered brutal.
b. The Destroying of Building/Facilities
In the news articles, there are several paragraphs that discuss about the leveling of building and the disapproval of the action. The destroying of building and facilities in Gaza are executed by Israel forces. According to IDF, the goal of the strike was Hamas’ military infrastructure and the home of Hamas’ leader.
(15) In a separate strike, the Israeli military said it had bombed the home of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, in the southern town of Khan Younis. (1/5/1) (16) Israeli forces have hit more than 1,500 targets, causing serious damage
to Hamas infrastructure, including the network of tunnels it uses to move people and weapons, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials said at a press briefing after a meeting of the security cabinet.
(1/9/1)
(17) “Hamas’s underground has gone down the drain,” he said. (1/10/1) IDF argues that Hamas uses civilian houses for military purposes to hide weapons. As the military is located under civilian buildings, the civilian houses above the underground military facility also collapse. IDF tries to justify its action by accusing Hamas of using the Human Shield method. Nevertheless, the strike causes damage and casualties. Many civilians lose their homes and lives.
(18) An Israeli aircraft “struck underground military infrastructure belonging to Hamas terror organization which was located under the road in the relevant area,” an Israeli Defense Forces spokesman said. (1/4/1)
(19) “The underground military facility collapsed, causing the foundations of the civilian house above to collapse as well, causing unintentional casualties. The aim of the I.D.F. strike was military infrastructure.”
(1/4/2)
(20) The strikes have destroyed 132 buildings in Gaza and left 2,500 people homeless, according to Palestinian officials. (3/6/2)
Israeli airstrike also destroys the al-Jalaa building, which houses media offices, including The Associated Press and Al Jazeera. IDF claims that Hamas uses the building for military purposes. However, the president of the news media, The Associated Press, denies the claim and asks for evidence. This strike clearly causes damage and put people inside the building at risk, even though no casualties are reported. The IDF gives warning to civilians an hour in advance for evacuation, and no extra minutes are given even with desperate pleads. The paragraphs below show the cruelty of the Israeli Army for not sparing an extra 10 minutes to retrieve the journalists’ belongings.
(21) In the minutes before the airstrike, Mr. Mahdi was filmed desperately pleading with the Israeli Army, asking them to allow four journalists who had been filming an interview – with the father of four children slain in an Israeli strike on a refugee camp on Saturday morning – an extra 10 minutes to retrieve their belongings. (2/10/1)
(22) An Israeli soldier told him: “There will be no 10 minutes.” (2/11/1) In (2/10/1), the text provides a detailed description of an event happening before the strike. An interview conducted with the father of four children slain in an Israeli strike on a refugee camp on Saturday morning is mentioned in the text.
This has no direct correlation within the context; however, this is necessary to emphasize and raise awareness of Israeli brutality. The reporter intends to inform the readers of another brutal occurrence in another Israeli strike that sacrifices the
lives of four children. This provides information on the actions of destroying of refugee camp and killing of children done by Israel during the war.
The leveling of al-Jalaa building raises questions and disapproval from many parties. Many agree that IDF destroys media facilities to stop the news coverage which expose the human suffering in Gaza. The possible agenda behind this attack is to warn media organizations to silence their voices. Israel has the power to destroy media facilities to stop the news about the war going out in the world.
(23) In a statement, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists questioned whether the I.D.F. was “deliberately targeting media facilities in order to disrupt coverage of the human suffering in Gaza.” (2/14/2) (24) United Nations Secretary- General Antonio Guterres said that he was
“deeply disturbed” by the strike and warned that “indiscriminate targeting of civilian and media structures” would violate international law. (2/15/2)
(25) After the strike, journalists from other news organizations gathered near the rubble. Heba Akila, an Al Jazeera journalist who had been broadcasting from the tower when the warning call was made, said: “This is clearly to silence the truth and the voices of journalists.” (2/16/1) Article 53 of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV states that “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.” However, Israel still destroys buildings and facilities which they believe are the base of the military operations of Hamas. In the third news article, Israel is also reported to have struck civilians’ homes and facilities.
(26) Israeli forces have struck homes, refugee camps, medical facilities and other buildings. (3/4/2)
It shows the brutality of war as Israel executed war crimes by destroying facilities that are necessary for the people. Israel then defends themselves by stating that the buildings or facilities are used for military operations by Hamas. Though the claim is denied by the owner of the building, and it still causes damaged to the innocent people involved during this brutal conflict.
It is concluded that the destroying of building or facilities is brutal. It can cause damage, injury and casualties. The destroying of civilian’s facilities is a violation to the international law. It is also a brutal act of taking away accommodating facilities from those who need them, and of causing unnecessary damage that cost material loss.
c. The Use of Deadly Weapons
Weapons are important assets in war as they play a big role in defeating the opponent. These instruments are used to kill, injure and destroy for the sake of winning a war. Many innocent lives are forced to face the consequences of using deadly weapons in a war.
(27) At least 197 people — most of them civilians, including 58 children have been killed by Israeli planes, drones and artillery since the campaign began on Monday, Palestinian officials said. (1/6/1)
(28) The violence showed no sign of abating on Sunday, as Israel made the single deadliest airstrike yet on Gaza in the weeklong bombing campaign, and the number of rockets fired at Israel from Gaza topped 3,000 (1/1/1).
Many different kinds of weapon used in the Israel-Palestine war are mentioned in the news articles. These weapons carry bloods of innocent people involved involuntarily in the war. The deadly weapons mentioned in the news articles are rockets, explosive drones, artillery, underwater drones, explosives, and fighter jets.
According to the Humanitarian Law on the limitation of the choice of weapons, firearms or weapons with explosive projectiles are not prohibited. However, there are some exceptions identified by treaties such as explosive projectiles weighing less than 400 gram (Declaration of Saint Petersburg, 1968), bullets that expand or flatten in the human body (Hague Declaration, 1899), poison or poisoned weapons (Hague Regulations, 1907), chemical and biological weapons (Geneva Protocol, 1925), weapons that injure by fragments that shown undetected by X-rays, incendiary weapons, blinding laser weapons, mines, booby traps and “other devices”, and explosive remnants of war (Protocol 1-V to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, 1980-2003). While there are many inhuman weapons have been banned in treaties, it is still brutal to use weapons in the beginning against people, especially civilians including children and women.
There are mentioned several military weapons in the text, such as explosive drones, fighter jets, artillery, aircraft, and rockets. However, rockets are mentioned the most with the number of it fired. There are thousands of rockets fired at Israel from Gaza. In the last article, it is stated that the rockets fired has reached more than 3,300 rockets, with the result of killing at least 10 people. Knowing and proven how there is a high chance of killing people in performing these attacks, these two involved countries still executed the attack plan. War is very cruel and wicked to those whose lives are affected destructively.
(29) Israel has intercepted about 1,100 rockets, military officials said on Sunday.
(30) According to the Israeli Air Force, Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, has fired more than 3,300 rockets toward Israeli cities and towns, killing at least 10 people. (3/3/2)
Several military weapons are mentioned in the news articles. These deadly weapons are intended to scare off, injure, and kill people. Even though they are deadly and brutally used to take the lives of innocent people, several firearms or explosive weapons are not prohibited in the law of war. It is brutal to see how deadly weapons can cause the loss of human lives and are still allowed to be supplied in war countries.
d. The Duration of Attacks
The researcher finds four phrases that indicate the duration of attacks happening during the war between Israel and Palestine. The phrases mentioned in the text are the weeklong bombing, periodic flare-ups in fighting, a week of fighting, and daily bouts of violence. The long period of time of constant attacks can be considered as brutal. The brutality can be seen through the consequence of the attacks and yet the violence is still constantly happening every day. This constant violence has left people dead in both Israel and Palestine and put many people in sufferings.
(31) The violence showed no sign of abating on Sunday, as Israel made the single deadliest airstrike yet on Gaza in the weeklong bombing campaign, and the number of rockets fired at Israel from Gaza topped 3,000 (1/1/1).
(32) A week of fighting has left more than 200 people dead in Israel and the occupied territories, the vast majority of them Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. (3/1/1)
The indications of long duration of attacks are mentioned several times in the news articles. These constant attacks are not resulted in nothing but are resulted in the rise of the number of people injured or dead. The ignorance is very wicked and cruel. Moreover, the brutality of war can be seen from the constant attacks
happening in Palestine and Israel. The destruction and death toll caused by them do not make either Israel or Palestine reach a cease-fire.
e. The Expression of Communication
The expressions of communication are found in the text, mostly in a form of adjectives as the words or phrases are used to describe one’s feelings. The words or phrases mentioned are acknowledge, surprise, draw condemnations, desperately pleading, deeply disturbed, and the worst devastation.
(33) Israel’s military acknowledged civilian deaths in the strike. (1/3/1) (34) The leveling of the al-Jalaa tower, which occurred as fighting between
Israelis and Palestinians spiraled on several fronts, drew condemnations from across the world. (2/4/1)
(35) In the minutes before the airstrike, Mr. Mahdi was filmed desperately pleading with the Israeli Army, asking them to allow four journalists who had been filming an interview — with the father of four children slain in an Israeli strike on a refugee camp on Saturday morning — an extra 10 minutes to retrieve their belongings. (2/10/1)
(36) United Nations Secretary- General Antonio Guterres said that he was
“deeply disturbed” by the strike and warned that “indiscriminate targeting of civilian and media structures” would violate international law. (2/15/2)
In (1/3/1), Israel’s military acknowledged civilian deaths in the strike. The word acknowledge itself, according to Oxford Dictionary, is to accept or admit the existence or truth of. In the context, Israel’s military admits that their strike costs civilians’ lives. There is no following statement or information that indicates their regret or sympathies, which shows how cruel a war can be.
The cruelty of Israeli Army can be seen from their interaction with a civilian during the airstrike. Mr. Mahdi was filmed desperately pleading with the Israeli Army for extra 10 minutes to retrieve the belongings. However, no extra minute is given.
As the fighting between Palestine and Israel risen, it attracts attention from people all over the world. People publicly express their disapproval of this ongoing war as it becomes a humanitarian crisis. The news article mentions about how the leveling of the al-Jalaa tower drew condemnations from across the world.
According to Oxford Dictionary, condemnation is the expression of very strong disapproval. The way it draws condemnations from the world shows that this war has reached its maximum level of brutality. The United Nations Secretary also expresses his concern of the violation of the international law by being deeply disturbed.
It can be concluded that the expressions of the communication mentioned in the text are used to express strong disapproval from public against the violence conducted by Israel. These expressions show how society perceive the war as cruel and brutal. The world at large realize that the war has become a humanitarian crisis.
It reveals the concerns from public face of the law crimes conducted by each party in the war.