Unpacking Israel’s war on international humanitarian law
The Israeli army has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians – men, women and children – since it launched what legal scholars describe as a “genocidal” war on Gaza.
Israel often justifies its killings by claiming the targets are people sympathetic or affiliated with Hamas or other armed factions. It also regularly destroys entire neighbourhoods killing dozens, often hundreds, at a time, ostensibly to target a single Hamas operative.
For years, Israel has tried to justify these practices by employing lawyers to create shadowy quasi-legal concepts in the hope of establishing new, dangerous precedents, according to legal scholars.
However, experts told Al Jazeera neither so-called “targeted killings” or disproportionate attacks against civilians have any grounding in international law.
Israel’s Supreme Court rejects petition against cutting electricity supply to Gaza Strip: Report
Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting that Israel’s Supreme Court Justices have ruled that decisions of such a nature are the executive branch’s responsibility and not for the courts to adjudicate on.
The newspapers said the petitioners had claimed the move would lead to a renewal of the fighting and it would jeopardise the safety of the captives while also violating international humanitarian law.
Haaretz reported that the initial petition was submitted before Israel broke the ceasefire in Gaza. Given that Israel has resumed its war, the Justices deemed the petition irrelevant.
Israeli energy minister justifies Gaza electricity halt
Eli Cohen has defended his decision to cut off electricity to Gaza, describing it as justified both “from a security and moral perspective”.
“I am glad that the petition to force me to restore the electricity was rejected out of hand,” Cohen said in a post on X. Sustained pressure on Hamas is essential to securing the release of captives, he added.
Cohen in early March ordered a halt to the electricity supply to Gaza, threatening the functioning of the enclave’s desalination plants, which are vital for providing drinking water to Palestinians.
Rights group Amnesty International had condemned the move as “further evidence of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip”.
