1. All States have a legal obligation to cooperate to bring to an end through lawful means any serious breach by a State of an obligation arising under a peremptory norm of general international law (jus cogens).
2. The basic rules of international humanitarian law are peremptory norms.
For example, the prohibition of starvation is undoubtably a basic rule.
So is wilfully impeding relief supplies short of starvation, I would argue.
3. Israel's violation of these basic rules is gross and systematic, and therefore serious.
So all States have a legal obligation to bring Israel's violations to an end.
4. The ILC's conclusion is limited to (a) serious breaches (b) by a State.
I reject both limitations.
Peremptory norms are universally applicable to all subjects of international law.
All breaches are sufficiently serious to trigger obligations to use due diligence to end them
5. The prohibitions of taking hostages, as well as inhuman treatment, are basic rules of international humanitarian law.
Hamas is violating these basic rules.
Therefore, all States have a legal obligation to cooperate to bring Hamas's violations to an end through lawful means.
6. Notably, Israel rejects any such legal obligation.
(So do the United States and the United Kingdom)
This is not surprising, since much of the State practice that clearly establishes this legal obligation was directed at Israel's serious violations of peremptory norms.
7. As is often the case, Israel's legal position is incorrect.
But there is no reason to deny Israeli civilians the protection afforded them under legal rules that Israel itself rejects.
8. Many States cannot do much to stop Hamas or Israel from violating basic rules of international humanitarian law.
The authors suggest condemnation, outcasting, and accountability with respect to Hamas's violations.
I would suggest the same with respect to Israel's violations.
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The U.S. State Department published its legal defense of the war against Iran on Tuesday.
A few observations 🧵
1. As a matter of public diplomacy, it's notable that collective self-defense of Israel comes first, individual self-defense of the United States comes second.
2. The statement concedes that the U.S. and Israel were *not* responding to an actual or imminent armed attack by Iran on Feb. 28.
Instead, they were already in an armed conflict with Iran, and were therefore free to attack Iran, any time, at will.
Ezra Klein's interview with Philippe Sands is very good overall.
But I want to reiterate that the ICJ has never said that the definition of genocide requires a "single intent."
Nor does the ICJ's standard of proof preclude a finding of genocide in cases of plural intent.
1/🧵
The definition of genocide is obviously consistent with plural intentions.
If a State got up in from of the ICJ and said "well, yes, we intended to destroy a substantial part of the group, but we also intended [fill in the blank]" that is an admission, not a defense.
2/
The ICJ's standard of proof allows for a finding that the only reasonable inference that can be drawn from a pattern of conduct is that it was intended to destroy a substantial part of a group and also intended to achieve other goals.
3/
"When large numbers of civilians are systematically and indiscriminately being bombed, shot and starved, states have a legal obligation to stop the violence, regardless of the label applied."
Genocidal intent includes an intent to destroy a substantial part of a group as a means to achieve further military or political aims, such as the forcible displacement of the rest of the group.
This is basically how the ICTY and ICJ saw Srebrenica.
In my view, the ICJ in Croatia v. Serbia did not ignore the possibility of parallel (or plural, or instrumental) intentions, or make genocidal intent impossible to prove when other intentions are present.
2/
The ICJ found that the killings “were not committed with intent to destroy the Croats, but rather with that of forcing them to leave the regions concerned."
The Court found there was only one intent, and it was not and did not involve an intent to destroy part of a group.
"Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel as the occupying power has an obligation to provide unconditional and adequate supplies of essential good and services to the entire population under its control."
"Israel is not fulfilling this obligation."
1/
"When the population is not adequately supplied, the parties ... have an obligation to allow and facilitate the rapid, safe, and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance to all persons in need."
"This obligation is results-based. It's not merely an obligation of means."
2/
"Neither Hamas nor Israel is complying with this obligation."
"We would also like to recall that the use of starvation as a method of warfare is prohibited and constitutes a war crime."