Hungry IDF Troops Told to Pillage

According to Ha'aretz:

"If our fighters deep in Lebanese territory are left without food our[sic] water, I believe they can break into local Lebanese stores to solve that problem," Brigadier General Avi Mizrahi, the head of the Israel Defense Forces logistics branch, said Monday.

Mizrahi's comments followed complaints by IDF soldiers regarding the lack of food on the front lines.

"If what they need to do is take water from the stores, they can take," Mizrahi told Army Radio.

So, they're not feeding their troops properly and they're telling them to steal food and water from Lebanese stores? Is that any way to run an army?

Pillaging is a war crime:

Article 8 (2) (b) (xvi)

War crime of pillaging

Elements

1. The perpetrator appropriated certain property.

2. The perpetrator intended to deprive the owner of the property and to appropriate it for private or personal use.[47]

3. The appropriation was without the consent of the owner.

4. The conduct took place in the context of and was associated with an international armed conflict.

5. The perpetrator was aware of factual circumstances that established the existence of an armed conflict.

Then there's this:

According to Mizrahi, the logistics branch is prepared for the possibility that combat soldiers will have to remain in Lebanon during the winter.

It's now August and, according to the UN resolution 1701, a UNIFIL force is supposed to be taking over in Lebanon as quickly as possible, so why is the Israeli military planning to have IDF troops staying in Lebanon all winter and do they plan to have them pillage that long too or will they actually give them food and water like they're supposed to?

But why should Israel be concerned about being prosecuted for war crimes when it, just like the United States, refuses to recognize the authority of the International Criminal Court?

Update: The IDF issues a non-denial denial:

IDF: Logistics chief didn't say looting of Lebanese shops okay
By Haaretz Service

The IDF Spokesman's Office said Monday that comments attributed to Brigadier General Avi Mizrahi, the head of the army's logistics branch, to the effect that soldiers deep inside Lebanese territory without food could break into local stores, had not been made by him.

Earlier Monday, Army Radio's website had quoted Mizrahi saying, "If our fighters deep in Lebanese territory are left without food or water, I believe they can break into local Lebanese stores to solve that problem."

Mizrahi did tell Army Radio that if the army was "at war and there is a danger that the soldiers will not be able to carry out their operational mission like they should, and what they need to do is to take water from a store, then yes, they can take it."

Ummm...what's the difference? Pillaging is pillaging.