ABSTRACT
Severe violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in the Israel-Hamas conflict have increasingly raised abundant concerns, jeopardizing the security and well-being of the people of Gaza Strip. The contemporary conflict between Israel and Hamas corresponds to non-international armed conflict. This very prolonged strife has witnessed severe violations of IHL detaining ordinary motions and safety of the Gazans, e.g., war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, resulting in civilian fatalities and gross humanitarian crises. Moreover, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is deliberately infringing the principle of distinction, the first and foremost rule of IHL, requiring parties to an armed conflict to make a contrast between the civilians and the combatants as well as distinct between the civilian and military objectives. Particularly, IHL also prescribes the use of prohibited weapons and blockades to humanitarian access. By applying a qualitative approach, the authors attempted to provide a clear picture of prevailing matters in question in the Gaza Strip from the perspective of IHL in the light of recent incidents encompassing an unprecedented attack on Israeli citizens by Hamas, indiscriminate/disproportionate attacks on civilians living in Gaza and their infrastructures by IDF, use of prohibited weapons by IDF, and humanitarian pernicious catastrophe faced by the innocent Gazans. Moreover, the authors jointly propose recommendations for enhancing compliance with IHL by exploring the legal mechanisms available in this conflict through an in-depth analysis of legal frameworks, precedents, and academic viewpoints. Over and above that, the authors also evaluate the numerous criteria outlined in IHL Treaties and Customary International Law (CIL) while determining the current circumstance in Gaza.
Keywords: International Humanitarian Law, Israel, Hamas, Gaza Strip, Civilians, Combatants, Civilian Objects, Military Objectives, Prohibited Weapons, Humanitarian Access, Indiscriminate Attacks.