Dear @SenSanders: International law is clear on these points, but...

Dear @SenSanders:

International law is clear on these points, but you are either illiterate or willfully ignorant about what the laws actually say.

Either way, you are wrong and I can prove it because- unlike you- I will bring the receipts.

Let me explain:
x.com/SenSanders/sta…

@SenSanders Yes, Israel has decided to cut off aid to Gaza because Hamas steals all the supplies and prevents the civilian population from getting them.

@SenSanders No, doing so is not unlawful, and does not constitute collective punishment, the crime of starvation, blackmail, or any combination thereof.

And no, it is not a close call, because international law is very very clear on these points.

To begin, those who ignorantly claim that all blockades are automatically a war crime, are simply wrong.

Blockades are of course regulated by international humanitarian law, but not prohibited by it.

casebook.icrc.org/a_to_z/glossar…

To that end, of course siege law does have humanitarian aspects- including the requirement of facilitating the passage of food and medicine by third parties.

But that is IF and only IF the aid can be reliably delivered without diversion to the enemy.

@SenSanders This is not a 'he said/she said' debate. Article 23 of the Fourth Geneva Convention clearly states:

@SenSanders "Each High Contracting Party shall allow the free passage of all consignments of medical and hospital stores and objects necessary for religious worship intended only for civilians of another High Contracting Party, even if the latter is its adversary...

@SenSanders It shall likewise permit the free passage of all consignments of essential foodstuffs, clothing and tonics intended for children under fifteen, expectant mothers and maternity cases...

@SenSanders [Ok Bernie, here it comes, stay with me]

The obligation of a High Contracting Party to allow the free passage of the consignments indicated in the preceding paragraph is subject to the condition that this Party is satisfied that there are no serious reasons for fearing:

a) that the consignments may be diverted from their destination,

b) that the control may not be effective, or

c) that a definite advantage may accrue to the military efforts or economy of the enemy through the substitution of the above mentioned consignments for goods...

which would otherwise be provided or produced by the enemy or through the release of such material, services or facilities as would otherwise be required for the production of such goods."

End quote.

@SenSanders And if you don't believe me, you can read it here:
un.org/en/genocidepre…

@SenSanders So where does that leave us, @BernieSanders ? Well, let's take a little look shall we?

@SenSanders @BernieSanders Literally everyone knows that Hamas steals the aid-

@SenSanders @BernieSanders From the @nytimes

nytimes.com/2023/10/27/wor…

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes to the Palestinian Authority
jpost.com/israel-hamas-w…

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes to the United Nations
nbcnews.com/news/world/isr…

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes Hell, even Hamas admits it!
timesofisrael.com/hamas-gunmen-c…

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes Nor is this a new phenomenon- they have been doing it for quite some time, just as UNRWA! Even those who hate Israel cannot deny that Hamas steals the aid!
nytimes.com/2009/02/04/wor…

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes So no, for all the armchair quarterbacks playing lawyer out there, the Geneva Conventions do not require a sieging party to allow in aid when it will be commandeered by the enemy or provide a military advantage- both of which are indisputably the case with Hamas in Gaza.

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes I am glad you brought up starvation, Bernie. And I am glad you mentioned children.

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes You see, apparently there is actually quite an abundance of food right now in Gaza-

x.com/koshercockney/…

so much extra food, in fact, that Hamas can afford to have drones drop candy for the massive crowds that gathered to watch them parade innocent tortured Israeli civilian hostages and murdered Jewish babies in their weekly macabre celebrations of evil.
baltimoresun.com/2025/02/24/whe…

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes You tweeted about that too, right Bernie?

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes Right?

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes No?

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes Of course not.

But even in your counterfactual world in which there was not enough food (for the record- just since the start of Phase 1 of the hostage - ceasefire deal over 25,000 trucks have entered Gaza carrying a total of 57,000 tons of food),

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes and in which the actual elected governing party was not sitting on literal stockpiles of extras, which they are,

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes what Israel is doing is simply not the war crime of starvation.

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Rome Statute explicitly defines this crime as:
legal.un.org/icc/statute/99…

"intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions."

This is a specific intent crime. Meaning it is not enough to demonstrate that civilians suffered based on decisions Israel made while fighting Hamas; Israel would have to act with the deliberate aim of starving civilians as a method of warfare.

This is patently untrue.

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes Israel has made extensive efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, even though it does not have to, and even under the extraordinary challenge of Hamas's well-documented systematic theft and weaponization of such supplies.

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes Again, not a debate- here are the numbers:
gaza-aid-data.gov.il/main/

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes Any accusation that Israel's objective here is to starve innocent civilians—rather than to compel the surrender of Hamas combatants—is not merely unfounded but a libelous distortion of the truth.

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes To be fair, you have never had a problem with libelous distortions of the truth so long as they were anti-Israel- right Bernie?

x.com/StopAntisemite…

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes At least you are consistent. Like last month, when you tweeted all aghast about how the UN decided to suspend its humanitarian aid in Yemen because the Houthis there had detained some staffers. You called that collective punishment right?

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes Right?

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes Of course not.

Now Israel is willing to let the aid resume, so long as Hamas continues to release the innocent hostages it has been holding in its terror dungeons for almost a year and a half.

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes Hamas, echoing its supporters here in America (i.e. Bernie's squad), has called Israel's proposal "cheap blackmail."

You can't make this stuff up.

Hamas, the murderous terror organization who invaded Israel, murdered 1200 people, stole innocent civilians including babies from their cribs and elderly Holocaust survivors,

Hamas- that has slowly been extorting the fact that Israel actually values its people by exchanging the tortured survivors of their hellish dungeons, along with the desecrated corpses of the children they murdered with their bare hands, for hundreds of convicted terrorists...

Hamas that has food but would rather let its own citizens suffer...

@SenSanders @BernieSanders @nytimes HAMAS thinks that what ISRAEL is doing is BLACKMAIL.

And Bernie, you stand up for them.

Shame on you.