On one level perhaps, long-term belligerency may be a solution. It does work, as you say, for frozen IAC.
My concern is with the sustainability of this combination of NAIC/non-state actor and long-term belligerency. As I said, I doubt that Hezbollah is a proper belligerent today vis-a-vis Israel.
Who/what is actually the other belligerent party in Gaza conflicts? Perhaps part of the issue is that not only should we differentiate between Hamas-Gaza and rump PA for these purposes, but also between Hamas-Gaza and Hamas Intl, so to speak. Then the belligerent is not Hamas, who happens to be attacking from Gaza, but Gaza that happens to be governed by Hamas (Hamastan). (And this helps with POWs, however, as you noted above, in that case the distinction drawn is even more tenuous.)
Re: terrorist Hamas
Date: 2012-12-04 06:40 pm (UTC)My concern is with the sustainability of this combination of NAIC/non-state actor and long-term belligerency. As I said, I doubt that Hezbollah is a proper belligerent today vis-a-vis Israel.
Who/what is actually the other belligerent party in Gaza conflicts? Perhaps part of the issue is that not only should we differentiate between Hamas-Gaza and rump PA for these purposes, but also between Hamas-Gaza and Hamas Intl, so to speak. Then the belligerent is not Hamas, who happens to be attacking from Gaza, but Gaza that happens to be governed by Hamas (Hamastan). (And this helps with POWs, however, as you noted above, in that case the distinction drawn is even more tenuous.)