Suddenly, tents are being released into the Gaza Strip. They are delivered by Israel as an alternative to the homes in Gaza City that approximately one million Palestinians are forced to leave when Israel's military plans to take control of the city.
Israel's occupation of Palestinian areas has already been ruled out as illegal in a verdict from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in 2024. Israel's control over the Gaza Strip as a whole has long been classified as a kind of occupation, since the country controls the strip's airspace, sea, and borders (with the exception of a short border with Egypt in the south) – even though the area itself has been governed by the terrorist-stamped Islamist movement Hamas since 2007.
Israel and the USA believe, in contravention of the ICJ verdict, that Gaza is not occupied, since it is governed by Hamas.
Now, with ground forces that will enter Gaza City, it can be called an intensified, or heightened occupation, according to Pål Wrange, professor of international law at Stockholm University.
I have understood that Israel does not want to use the word occupation, but they will not escape their responsibility by avoiding it, he says.
Does not live up to the requirements
The responsibility in question is a whole range of obligations towards the occupied population, stipulated in the Fourth Geneva Convention, which regulates the treatment of civilians in war. Israel is, for example, obliged to provide or allow deliveries of food and medical necessities to the population.
I do not follow the technical reporting daily, but it is obvious that during long periods of this war, one has not lived up to the requirements, says Wrange.
Melanie O'Brien, who is also the chairman of IAGS, an international organization for genocide researchers, is of a similar opinion. She emphasizes that the obligations are particularly important when it comes to Gaza, "where the population is already starving".
These are obligations that Israel has already been found to have broken in its occupation of the Palestinian territories, she says, referring to the ICJ verdict.
Not free game
On Wednesday evening, a spokesperson for Israel's military announced that the invasion of Gaza City has begun and that they already control the city's outskirts, reports The Jerusalem Post.
Gaza City is to be emptied of its inhabitants by October 7, according to the Israeli plan, which Defense Minister Israel Katz approved on Wednesday – the two-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war. Thereafter, Israel will go in with ground forces consisting of five military divisions, besiege the area, and kill the Hamas members who remain, according to the official Israeli version.
However, claiming that all who refuse to leave the city can be considered combatants would also be a breach of international law.
Even if some (civilians) would stay, they are not free game, emphasizes Wrange.
Sophie Tanha/TT
Facts: The war between Israel and Hamas
TT
The war in Gaza broke out after the terrorist-stamped Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Over 1,100 people were killed and around 250 were taken as hostages.
Approximately 140 of the hostages have been released alive through negotiations and eight have been rescued by Israel's military, according to the news agency AP's compilation.
Israel's bombings and attacks have killed over 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled area's health department, whose figures are often cited by UN agencies and international organizations.
In the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, a trial has been ongoing since December 2023, in which South Africa accuses Israel of genocide.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued international arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the country's former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and now deceased leaders within Hamas. The charges concern war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Source: ICJ, AP, UN
