War crimes?

The Guardian had an article Monday on Scotland Yard's attempt to arrest a retired Israeli general for war crimes. The general, Doron Almog, was on the tarmac at Heathrow on board a commercial El-Al flight when someone tipped him off that British detectives were waiting. Almog stayed on the plane, and flew back to Israel.

The warrent alleges Almog presided over the destruction of 59 homes near Rafah, which Palestenians say was commited to avenge the death of Israeli soldiers. Haaretz adds:

The warrant was issued based on one incident - demolition of a home in Rafah - but the attorneys also seek to investigate allegations concerning Almog's involvement in three other cases: the killing of a woman in her ninth month of pregnancy (Nouha al-Maqadam, March 3, 2003); the killing of three young men in northern Gaza on December 30, 2001; and the bombing of the Daraj neighborhood in Gaza on July 22, 2002, which killed Hamas' military head Salah Shehadeh and 14 other Palestinians.

As you may recall, seven children were killed together with Shehadeh and at least six others. Though I have no sympathy for Shehadeh, one of the founders of Hamas, I do not agree that 14 people is an acceptable level of collateral damage.

I don't respect British jurisdiction in this case, so I'm glad the British meddlers failed to nab Almog at the airport. Still, I hope this near-miss compels the men who greenlight Israeli assasinations to exercise some cautian and restraint going forward.