Of course the answer is “no.” Okay, troops following his orders killed up to 20,000 French civilians but nobody, that I am aware of, is suggesting that old Ike was guilty of a war crime. But here is the rub: Allied Forces did not text French civilians suggesting they leave areas near the Normandy beaches,they did not drop millions of leaflets warning them to scarper, the bombardment that proceeded the landings was not pin point accurate and targetted it was, as they say about Gaza “indiscriminate.”
Eisenhower gave orders knowing that civilians would die in large numbers and took no mitigating steps to avoid that as he needed to surprise the Krauts. Israel has taken every step to avoid civilian deaths in Gaza but they always do happen in wars. Yet the International Criminal Court seems to think that for what has happened in Gaza, Bibi Netenyahu and others are guilty of war crimes. The combatant to civilian casualty ratio in Gaza is way better than it was in, say, Iraq when Tony Blair and George Bush blundered in. Yet Bibi et al are singled out for sanction.
We, rightly, celebrate D Day today. My great uncle Michael Booker landed in France though not I think, on D day and had what was termed a “good war”. It is a day we should long remember in this country with pride. But as we praise all of those involved we might perhaps reflect on the double standard aplied to the Israelis in the matter of Gaza.