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The White House hailed the broader move as giving "second chances" to "deserving individuals." President Trump himself added: "when our soldiers have to fight for our country, I want to give them the confidence to fight."

There is indeed good reason for confidence among American troops when it comes to war crimes allegations, as Washington regularly fights tooth-and-nail to insulate US servicemen from any such charges. Apparently displeased by an International Criminal Court (ICC) war crimes probe targeting US troops launched in 2017, earlier this year Washington blocked the entry visa of the body's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, barring her from investigating in the US.

Less than a month prior, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted Washington would not allow American soldiers to live in "fear of unjust prosecutions," despite the fact that he opposes any impartial investigation that could establish whether particular charges have merit, preferring "internal" probes which reliably clear all personnel of wrongdoing.

Perhaps sensing the bad optics of the decision, however, current and former military officials have questioned whether the pardons would send a "bad message" to both US soldiers and the rest of the world. In May, retired General Martin Dempsey suggested the pardons could signal "that we don't take the Law of Armed Conflict seriously."

Despite the apparent concern, the Army said it would nonetheless go through with the pardons in a statement on Friday, acknowledging "the president has the power to grant pardons for federal offenders" under the US Constitution.

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Abdullah collected a shred of a child's clothing from the rubble. "As if this shabby house was the house of the head of a rocket launching unit. Rasmi! The chicken farmer! What a poor life you have suffered." Abdullah lamented.

One neighbor told me that the rescue of the impoverished shepherd's family amid the chaos was slowed by the terror that the house would be hit again.

"At the beginning we were paranoid to rescue the slain family from down the rubble, we were forced to wait for fifty minutes until the paramedics reached the area," Meqbel al-Sawarka, 27, said.
...
The attack injured a dozen other members of Sawarka family, mostly children, now being treated at Shuhhada al-Aqsa Hospital.
...
Umm Motaz, 34, Rasmi al-Sawarka's sister, had difficulty in speaking while tending to the surviving children at the hospital.

"Oh God, burning an entire family that lives from hand to mouth and sleeps in a tin shack. They need a stick of match, not four rockets," Umm Motaz told me. "This illogical, irreligious, inhumanity - this unbelievable massacre. These are children who play by sifting sand with a sieve! And today their flesh is collected from that sand. Only God will take revenge."

As for the Israeli investigation, the aunt shook her head.

"If this is happened in any respected state, then the whole world would warm up to an investigation. But it is related to Gaza, so it will be frivolous. Will this silly justification of investigation revive the children? Even if the Israeli army admitted its mistake about the crime, the children will not be more fortunate than the Samouni family or even Razan al-Najjar, whose file is thrown away in the trash."

Motaz referred to two legendary cases in Gaza. In 2008-2009, Israeli forces killed 48 members of one family, the al-Samounis, during the three-week assault on Gaza. In June 2018, al-Najjar, a 20-year-old paramedic was shot dead by Israeli forces while tending to casualties during the Great March of Return at the Gaza fence.

"We just had lunch together yesterday, and all what remain of my brother and his children are the good memories," Motaz said, looking through a window into the intensive care ward. "We are like hostages waiting our turn to be killed at any moment, with no international accountability for the crime."

• Israel 'accidentally' murders family of 8 in Gaza in raid on alleged Islamic Jihad commander