As news reports are rampant with the possibility of an Israeli or US strike on Syria’s chemical weapons, it is important to recall the law of armed conflict principles which come into play. Read more…
From November 18-20 there were at least six incidents in which the IDF targeted media locations or vehicles. The fog of war hangs over the facts surrounding the incidents like an impenetrable shroud. Read more…
Hamas has directed its armed police to aid in fighting the IDF.
Among the around 1,000 military targets of the strikes carried out by the IDF in Operation Pillar of Defense in the past five days have been police stations, media locations and political buildings. Read more…
After Obama’s speech curtailing war on terror, Israel may once again be alone in aggressive approach to fighting terror.
Ready or not, Israel’s relatively free hands in conducting its war on terror may finally be tied.
Since September 11, 2001, the United States’s much more aggressive approach to combating terror has often provided Israel with a blanket of immunity. Even as many groups and states criticized Israel for targeting killings and for the death of civilians during military operations, the impact of the criticism was always attenuated by Israel’s ability to quickly point out examples of recent US targeted killings and large civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read more...
As yet, there are no specific convention or treaty to regulate cyber warfare and seriously address its unique characteristics.
Cyber warfare is a perplexing problem for nations, for theorists and for military lawyers. It is hotly debated how existing principles of the law of armed conflict should apply to the relatively new phenomenon. Read more…
Whether the security wall near Battir gets extended or not, it appears that overall this will be just one more round between two perspectives on resolving security, human rights and cultural issues in the West Bank.
The battle lines were drawn in stone, almost like a wall.
On one side of the court room before the High Court of Justice on Wednesday was the state attorney and a colonel from the IDF’s Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria. Read more…
Analysis: Mofaz and MKs want a return to controversial policy for purposes of deterrence.
Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz and Knesset members from at least two other parties are explicitly or implicitly calling for returning to targeting Hamas leaders as a way of returning deterrence and quiet to the South. But is such a move legal? Is it legal to target the heads of Hamas, even if they are not on the battlefield or on their way to the battlefield, according to the law of armed conflict? In a declared war, the law of armed conflict clearly allows targeting war-planners and decision-makers, assuming the applicable rules of proportionality and necessity are followed. Read more…
Hebrew University’s Yuval Shany weighs in on aspects of conflicts with Egypt, Iran.
he debate about when and if Israel should bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities from a national security point of view is constantly in the news. But on what grounds can Israel attack under international law? Read more…
Yonah Jeremy Bob