The illusion of International Law in Palestine

Why the continuous bombardment of Palestine, and the invasions of Lebanon and Syria, show that international law is a selective power wielded by colonial powers.

It has been more than a year of the ongoing onslaught in Gaza, where experts and common people across the world recognize that a genocide is taking place. We have seen the decimation of Gaza’s hospitals, the use of starvation and disease as weapons of war, attacks on aid workers and the prevention of humanitarian aid, the invasion of Lebanon, Syria and West Bank cities, the arbitrary detention of 9,000 Palestinians, the use of white phosphorus, and the series of countless bombs, bombs and more bombs – all individually war crimes, and collectively, affronts to the very idea of international law and jurisprudence.

Like millions around the world, I watched Sha’ban al-Dalou, a 19-year-old student, burn alive as he slept in a tent outside the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ hospital in central Gaza. I’ve seen my people unable to do anything as flames swallowed yet another martyr, another hospital, another set of refugees in tents. I’ve watched Israeli occupation forces in north Gaza prepare what appeared to be a mass grave, outside Indonesian hospital, lining up Palestinian men and boys with their hands tied and eyes blindfolded.

A massacre is being carried out in the shadows of media silence. As a Palestinian, the horror of watching the extermination of people crystallizes into a deep feeling of grief, shame and rage at the loss of humanity. And as a law student, I question the very profession I hope to join.

You see, when I entered my international law elective in January, a few months after the al-Ahli Arab hospital massacre, and asked my professor about enforcement of international law in what clearly was a war crime, he replied with two things: 1) It is not clear if what is happening in Gaza constitutes war crimes and 2) The enforcement of international law relies on its member states. It was then that I realized that international law itself is a fallacy, an illusion and one that does not apply to Palestinians.

In fact, as the year has progressed, Israel’s military campaign has only intensified, crossing every proclaimed “red line” with impunity. And in that time, we witnessed not just the physical destruction of Palestinian lives and infrastructure, but the moral collapse of the international legal order.

Consider the fundamental tenets of international humanitarian law and law during wartime: the protection of civilians, the prohibition of collective punishment, the inviolability of medical facilities and protecting the inherent dignity of all humans. These principles are enshrined in the Geneva conventions, Rome statute, and countless UN security resolutions but have been flouted in the face of Palestinians. Most recently, on 28 October, Israel also passed a bill to ban Unrwa from operating, which will take effect 90 days after the bill was passed. Unrwa is the largest provider of aid in Gaza, and as 1.9 million displaced Palestinians face starvation, the dismantling of this UN agency is part of the effort to break down Palestinian life – aid has become a weapon of war.

The failure of international law extends much further back than 7 October 2023, but since Israel’s very inception – the Nakba – which saw the forced expulsion of Palestinians from our land, the rape of our women, massacre of our men and children, and the start of decades of illegal colonization. These tragedies continued in the massacre of Kafr Qasim in 1956, Jenin refugee camp in 2002, 2023 and 2024, and Gaza in 2008, 2014, 2021 and today.

But as we decry these violations, we must ask ourselves: are we witnessing the failure of international law in the context of Palestine or are we seeing it function as intended? International law, as we know it today, was largely crafted by colonial powers in the aftermath of the second world war. So, is it any wonder they seem to falter when confronted with situations that challenge the colonial status quo? As it stands, international law is not designed to protect the oppressed. It is a tool wielded by the powerful to maintain their control, to legitimize their violence, and to silence those who resist – in its first 11 years, the international criminal court only prosecuted African leaders.

The legal definition of occupation, as outlined in Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations, states unambiguously that “a territory is occupied when it is placed under the authority of a hostile army”. Yet, when applied to Palestine, this suddenly becomes mired in a semantic quagmire of “complexities”. The reality on the ground – a people without free movement, access to their water or resources and a separate set of laws than their occupiers – speaks louder than any legal sophistry. The expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, deemed illegal under international law by the UN security council resolution 2334 in 2016, continues unabated. In 2023 alone, Israel approved plans for over 7,000 new settlement units, directly contravening Article 49 of the fourth Geneva convention.

The hypocrisy of society’s selective application of these principles is stark and damning. We need only look to history – the interventions in Ukraine, East Timor, and Rwanda – to see that when there is political will, the machinery of international law can be mobilized swiftly and decisively. In East Timor, the UN-sanctioned International Force East Timor (Interfet) was deployed in 1999 to restore peace and security. In Rwanda, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was established to prosecute those responsible for the genocide. Yet, for Palestinians there is only deafening silence, punctuated by toothless resolutions and hollow preliminary rulings.

Joe Biden, the US president, first declared he would withhold weapons if Israel invaded Rafah and most recently if Israel invaded Lebanon. However, as Israel crosses every red line they are continuously met with more weapons – not only in direct opposition to US law, but a clear sign that Israel can commit its atrocities with impunity.

So, what are Palestinians left with? When the law has failed them, when the world has abandoned them, what routes remain for their liberation? Resistance. Western leaders might have you believe that resistance against this violence is “terrorism”. However, by their very own design, UN general assembly resolution 37/43 affirms the “inalienable right” of the Palestinian people to “self-determination, national independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty without outside interference”.

It goes further, legitimizing the struggle for these rights “by all available means, including armed struggle”. This resolution, often overlooked in western discourse, underscores a crucial point: resistance to occupation is not just a right under international law; it is a moral imperative. In the face of such injustice, Palestinians have no choice but to resist, to continue fighting for their land, their dignity and against their erasure. This, of course, does not mean targeting civilians. As Palestinian Basic Law explains: “the right to resist and self-defense is subject to the rules of international humanitarian law, including the respect of the principle of distinction between civilians and combatants”. According to Amnesty International’s 296 page report, Israel is not just not avoiding civilian casualties but instead targeting civilians in their concentrated effort to bring about the destruction of the Palestinian people. One does not have to believe Amnesty, simply open your phone. Gaza as we know it no longer exists, this has been an annihilation. But we will rise in the midst of destruction, as we have always done as Palestinians.

Those of us outside of Palestine must resist in our own ways: pressing our elected officials to issue an arms embargo (as Spain and Italy have), boycotting and divesting against companies involved in Israeli crimes (a strategy that worked well to topple South African apartheid) and targeted in our material support to Palestinians (like sending eSims so journalists can continue reporting on the ground).

The efforts of international bodies like the ICC and the international court of justice to hold Israel to account for its actions in Gaza are symbolically important but they have not been sufficient to stop the killing. The struggle for Palestinian liberation will not be won in the halls of the United Nations or courts of The Hague. It will be won by those on the ground, in Gaza, in Jenin, in Lebanon’s Jnoub, and in the refugee camps.

As the world has become increasingly used to Palestinian blood and done nothing to stop it, we no longer ask for your mercy. The struggle will be won by those who refuse to surrender their land, their homes and their history. It will be won by the Palestinian people themselves, who have survived decades of occupation and violence and will continue to resist until they are free.

I wrote this piece originally for The Guardian*, published there on Dec. 13th, 2024.