Search Results for: enemy combatant

“That ratio is tremendously positive,” said Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Jonathan Conricus when asked in December 2023 about Israel’s assessment that its military had killed two Palestinian civilians for every one Hamas fighter. With these words, Conricus confirmed Israel’s point of view that killing two civilians for every enemy combatant was “proportionate,” given combat [...]

This week, President Donald Trump pardoned a man federal prosecutors described as the architect of a “narco-state” who moved 400 tons of cocaine to United States shores. In September, the US military began killing people on Caribbean vessels based on unproven suspicions they were doing the same thing on a far smaller scale. The strikes [...]

“The safety of the people shall be the highest law.” Cicero, The Laws  During the coming year, the United States, in occasional concert with Israel, must confront expanding terrorist threats. Topping pertinent concerns in Washington and Jerusalem will be a sordid assortment of jihadi groups, some spawned by the al-Assad regime collapse in Syria and [...]

The rule of law is the bedrock of international relations and human rights, ensuring that nations adhere to established norms to protect humanity during times of conflict. Within this framework, the laws of armed conflict delineate appropriate conduct in wartime through fundamental principles: military necessity, proportionality, unnecessary suffering, and discrimination. The foundational tenet of the [...]

“For by Wise Counsel, Thou Shalt Make Thy War.” Proverbs 24.6 For mostly good reason, policy discussions of Israel’s nuclear strategy and doctrine have been intentionally vague and without evident nuance. More specifically, there have been few open-literature assessments of a limited nuclear war and its law-supported capacity for enhancing Israel’s strategic deterrence. Now, however, [...]

The opening days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered a fierce and inspiring response by ordinary Ukrainians. They joined together in a mass uprising to defend their homeland. Under international humanitarian law (IHL), such an act of resistance is known as a “levée en masse” (levée). A levée is a unique category that temporarily [...]

Professor Andrew Clapham of the Geneva Graduate Institute is a leading expert in the interplay of war and international law. In his timely new book “War,” Clapham explores the modern relevance of the concept of war and how it shapes our understanding of rights and obligations in both national and international law, questioning whether the [...]

Recently, medical workers at Israeli hospitals told BBC News that Palestinian detainees from Gaza were “shackled and blindfolded” while they received treatment. Physicians owe a duty to their patients based on well-established ethical principles. In truth, the doctor-patient relationship is aspirational, and at the bedside, circumstance reveals a much more complex exchange. At the core [...]

Without irony, Chef Jose Andres of World Central Kitchen (WCK) accused Israel of a “crime against humanity” in the recent accidental deaths of seven WCK volunteers by an Israeli air strike in Gaza. His accusation has generated a furious, and troubling discussion — focused on Israel’s culpability. US President Joe Biden claimed Israel has not [...]

In response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks against Israeli civilians, Israel mounted Operation Swords of Iron. Although international law allows for certain limited uses of insurgent force, including uses directed toward “self-determination,” these residual allowances do not include any rights of indiscriminate violence or of deliberate attacks on noncombatants. “Revenge,” of course, is [...]