The main argument of Israeli governement is the right of the self-defence against the Hamas attack. According to the art. 51 of the Charter of the United Nations «Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security».

However, this case is not so clear as the Israeli governements mantain illegal occupation. Israel has been occupying Palestine for many decades. That is, it violates the core of the principles which the UN is founded on. The foundations of international law are respect for territorial sovereignty and integrity, the peoples’ right to self-determination, the principles of peaceful coexistence, good neighborliness, and the peaceful resolution of disputes.

Therefore there can be no question of self-defense. For example, the operations of the German armed forces, during the Second World War when fighting against the rebel forces of the occupied countries, were not self-defense. Colonial troops in Africa or Asia did not exercise self-defense when fighting against armed anti-colonial movements.

For that reason, it is wrong and misleading to discuss whether Israel applies the international law of armed conflict. It's just not about defense. These are occupation consolidation operations. Instead, Israel should immediately commence peaceful negotiations and withdraw from all occupied territories without delay. Peace would come automatically.

Let me sieze this opportunity to remind you that according to the interpretation of article 1 par. 2 of the Charter, which establishes the peoples’ right to self-determination, the use of force is legalized until the goal of liberation from a foreign occupation is achieved. Therefore, based on international law, the people of Palestine are generally legitimized to be armed and fight against the occupation forces.

On the other hand, the real facts oblige us to examine whether a real commission of crimes is taking place according to international law. Βased on the Statute of the International Criminal Court it can be argued that the government of Israel is committing war crimes (art. 8). For example, let’s mention:
1. the extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity (art. 8 par. 2A (iv)),
2. the unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement (art. 8 par. 2A (vii)),
3. the intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking directly part in hostilities (art. 8 par. 2B (i)),
4.  the intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives (art. 8 par. 2B (ii)),
5.  the intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, a long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilians objects under the international law of armed conflict (art. 8 par. 2B (iii)),
6. attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives (art. 8 par. 2B (v)),
7. declaring that no quarter will be given (art. 8 par. 2B (xii)).

Furthermore, based on Article 6, it can be argued that the government of Israel commits the crime of genocide since it is "intentionally imposing upon the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its natural destruction in whole or in part".

Based on Article 7, it also commits a crime against humanity with the extermination of the population in Gaza, i.e. "the intentional imposition of living conditions, including deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the population".

The far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu is responsible for all of the above. The Israeli people have every interest to live peacefully next to the Palestinian people, who must obtain their own free homeland, on the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital, as mandated by the UN resolutions (for example the resolutions of the Security Council 242(1967), 338(1973), 446(1979), 452(1979), 465(1980) 476(1980), 478(1980) 1397(2002), 1515(2003), 1850(2008), 2334(2016)). Two states, one next to the other, two peoples united and free.

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Dimitris Kaltsonis
Professor of Theory of State and Law
Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (Athens)
www.kaltsonis.blogspot.com