50 Days: More than 500 Children: Facts and figures on fatalities in Gaza, Summer 2014

[shira]

12. Let's go over that paragraph from B'tselem...

Under international humanitarian law, civilians are entitled to protection and may not be the object of an attack, “unless and for such time as they participate directly in hostilities.” The study initiated by the ICRC was intended to clarify the circumstances in which a civilian loses special protection and is deemed to have participated directly in hostilities. The final report, which is based on six years of activity by work groups composed of experts in international humanitarian law, states that persons belonging to two categories lose the protection given to civilians in an armed conflict between a state and an organized armed group:

The persons killed in the cafe watching the world cup were not civilians. This does not apply to them.

Now what are these 2 categories of persons?

Persons who fulfill a “continuous combat function.” Such persons are legitimate objects of attack even if they are not participating directly in hostilities at the moment of attack. This category includes persons whose ongoing function involves the preparation, execution, or command of combat acts or operations. An individual recruited, trained, and equipped by such a group to continuously and directly participate in hostilities can be considered to assume a continuous combat function even before the person carries out a hostile act.

Exactly. Legit kill by the IDF, end of story.

[div class ="excerpt"]On the other hand, persons who continuously accompany or support an organized armed group but whose function does not involve direct participation in hostilities maintain their status as civilians and are not legitimate objects of attack. Thus, recruiters, trainers, and funders may contribute to the general war effort, but as long as they do not directly participate in hostilities, they are not a legitimate object of attack.

Such persons are not relative to the situation as the ones killed, again, were terrorists.

Persons who do not fulfill a “continuous combat function” are a legitimate object of attack only when taking a direct part in hostilities (for example, on their way to fire a rocket, during the firing of the rocket, and on the way back).

Nonsensical.

Seems it should be "Persons who fullfill". Otherwise it makes no sense.

But here's more...

The police officers that Israel killed only because they belonged to the Palestinian Police are not included in any of these categories. Israeli officials explained during the course of Operation Cast Lead that it was Israel's approach that all members of the Palestinian Police had participated or would in the future participate in hostilities against Israel, making them legitimate objects of attack. B'Tselem doubts whether the Palestinian Police, as an institution, can be considered a combat force in the sense that its members carry out ongoing combat action. In light of the presumption that persons are civilians who may not legitimately be attacked, it seems that, lacking unequivocal evidence that they participated in hostilities, they were not legitimate objects of attack. However, since B'Tselem does not have sufficient information on the functions of the Palestinian Police and its connection with the organized armed groups, it cannot be stated with certainty whether the police officers were a legitimate object of attack. For this reason, B'Tselem established a separate category for Palestinian police officers killed by Israel.

That bolded part is an absolute lie by B'tselem since this was just updated 2 days ago. Hamas admitted 6 years ago the police force were combatants (Hamas and martyrs from other factions). An outright lie by B'tselem.