Photo: Messenger
There is a wide controversy as to whether international law should be considered law or not, as it is not enforced by a superior political authority. Besides, sanctions are almost absent from the field of international law, which is being observed in the invasion of Israel into Gaza. Israel is disregarding international laws of war; that is not possible to be obstructed, as heavyweight powers stand on the part of Israel.
After Hamas's surprise attack on Israel on October 7, Israel has been besieging and bombarding the Gaza Strip. Israeli PM Netanyahu declared retaliation after experiencing an unprecedented attack on behalf of Palestinian Islamic group Hamas against Israel. As a form of retaliation, an invaded state may attack the state that acted contrary to international law. But retorsion does not delegate any right to the affected state to endanger international peace and security.
Although Netanyahu declared retaliation, IDF turned it into reprisals. Reprisal may be legal in certain circumstances when any previous act is committed contrary to international law, but there must be a certain proportion between the offence and reprisal. Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, made that point clearly in a tweet: "The commission of war crimes can’t be justified as a reprisal for other war crimes. Two wrongs do not make a right.”
They did not try to bar Israel from settling in the West Bank by refusing Palestinians, which is an internationally wrongful act. An occupying state cannot refuse nationals from their motherland. The Geneva Convention Relating to the Treatment of Civilian Persons in Time of War states that individual or mass forcible transfers and deportations of civilians from occupied territory are prohibited.
Apart from that, when two groups are in an armed conflict, international law is applicable there.
The Hague Convention of 1899 was incorporated into domestic law by Israel, which is why Israel would be bound to regard the Hague Conference as prohibiting bombarding civilians and their property without appropriate cause.
The Washington Conference of 1922 states that buildings connected with religion, culture, and philanthropic work cannot be destroyed; hospitals and other places where patients are treated cannot be destroyed by aerial bombardment. But the IDF destroyed a number of mosques in Gaza. In Gaza's largest hospital, "Al-Shifa," the IDF stopped providing fuel; treatment of the patients about to die in the ICU was barred. As a result, all of the 63 patients who had been in a dying state in ICU passed away. The Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 states that the occupying power has the duty to ensure that the medical needs of the civilian population in occupied territory are met. On the contrary, Israel obstructed to provide fuel and medical equipment for civilians in Gaza Strip.
The IDF acts against Gaza by all means, which is the desire of those in good relations with Israel. But they should support Israel within the boundaries of international laws of war. They accuse Hamas of following antisemitism, which should also be applicable to Israel that destroyed private buildings, killed civilians—70% of whom are children and women—attacked schools and shelters, and obstructed the provision of food and medical equipment. The IDF defied human rights and laws in accordance with their whims and caprices and entombed human rights and laws in Gaza.
The writer is student, Department of Law, Noakhali Science and Technology University
Messenger/Sufian/Sun Yath
