Why we are unable to stop the human tragedy in Gaza?

Photo: Omar Al-Qattaa Agence France-Presse In Gaza, more than 41,870 people (mostly civilians), including 14,000 children, are said to have lost their lives in one year.

Magdaline Boutros

Published at 0:00 Updated at 0:56

• Middle East

On a piece of land smaller than the island of Montreal, more than 41,870 people (mostly civilians), including 14,000 children, are said to have lost their lives in one year. In the war between Hamas and Israel, extreme levels of violence have been reached — on both sides. How is it that in 2023-2024, we will not be able to stop such a tragedy ?

According to Vladyslav Lanovoy, a professor of public international law at Université Laval who has worked with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), it is clear that since October 7, 2023, both Hamas and Israel “have committed serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”

By crossing the Israeli border on October 7, 2023, the terrorist group committed abuses against soldiers and civilians, killing 1,205 people and taking 251 hostages. A year later, 97 of them are still in the hands of Hamas in Gaza, 64 of whom are believed to be alive.

In its response launched in the hours following this massive attack, Israel asserted its right to retaliate — its right to self-defense, in legal parlance. “There is a general prohibition on the use of force in international relations,” with this exception, explains Mr. Lanovoy.

However, this is not a carte blanche, he adds, specifying that this right to legitimate defense is limited by the principles of necessity and proportionality. Necessity can be invoked here for the release of the hostages, but “the scale of the coercive measures taken by Israel” and “the scale of the deaths” (more than 41,870, according to the Hamas government) mean that the proportionality aspect is not respected, the lawyer believes. “The use of force is disproportionate to motivate the exercise of legitimate defense.”

In accordance with the principle of distinction enshrined in the law of armed conflict, belligerents also have an obligation to distinguish military targets from infrastructure or civilians. “You cannot attack a target without knowing whether it is a military or civilian object, or if you know that there may be civilian victims,” says Mr. Lanovoy.

Without ruling on the merits of South Africa’s complaint against Israel for “genocide” in Gaza, the ICJ acknowledged last January that there was a “real and imminent risk that irreparable harm will be caused” to the Palestinians in the enclave. To prevent this risk of genocide, the ICJ — the main judicial organ of the United Nations, which settles disputes between States — decreed several provisional measures, including the cessation of the military offensive in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. However, it will be several years before the substantive case and the debate on compliance with the interim measures are heard.

As for the International Criminal Court, which judges the criminal responsibility of the individuals involved, it could soon issue international arrest warrants against a series of leaders of Hamas and Israel for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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This is in addition to an opinion produced last July in which the ICJ determines that Israel has been illegally occupying the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967. The court specified that Israel must “immediately cease all new settlement activities and evacuate all settlers” from the Palestinian territories.

Political Will

Despite these legal foundations, how is it that the Gaza Strip continues to be pounded, that nearly a hundred hostages are still being held, and that the number of civilian victims continues to climb at a frightening rate ?

For Nizar Farsakh, professor of international negotiation at George Washington University, who headed the Palestinian delegation in Washington from 2003 to 2008, it is clear that “the [legal] instruments are there, but [that] the political will is not there.” “There are countries and companies [among others in the arms industry] that have a lot of interests with Israel [and] that could change things, but who decide not to do so,” he laments.

The United States notably uses its right of veto at the United Nations Security Council to systematically defend its Israeli ally.

In the current context, there is no sign that the violence – with an “intention” on Israel’s part to kill civilians, according to Professor Farsakh – is about to stop. “What we are seeing today is an attempt by Israel to regain its deterrent force [which was badly shaken by the success of Hamas’s surprise attack]. Israel needs to feel strong and to feel that its adversaries are weak, if not completely decimated.” »

The analyst recalls that on October 7, 2023, militants in the Gaza Strip — “a territory under siege and subject to surveillance [by Israeli intelligence services] 24 hours a day, 7 days a week” — managed to do what no enemy of Israel had managed to do until then, namely occupy Hebrew territory.

Since then, according to a United Nations estimate, the strikes on the Gaza Strip have left more than 19,000 orphans. “They will probably not be 'seeds for peace'.” Israelis will have some peace for the next few years, but it will come back stronger in a few years,” Nizar Farsakh points out.

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An “imposed” war

For Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence agent, Gazans also bear responsibility for the high number of victims on their territory. “I am very sorry to see what is happening in the Gaza Strip. I am not happy to see people and children dying,” he told Le Devoir. But the Israelis did not choose this war, he said.

“This is not what I wanted […] As an Israeli, as someone who wants to live in peace with his neighbors, I tell these neighbors that they should take responsibility for their decisions and actions and that until they do, we should not expect things to improve.”

In 2007, Gazans elected Hamas as their government, he said, and the group knew that “by launching this war, there would be repercussions.” Melamed added that Hamas itself “sacrifices” its “own brothers and sisters by making them human shields,” noting that Israeli intelligence reports that the militia uses civilian facilities such as hospitals and mosques to operate.

But despite the strength of Israel’s military response, the former intelligence officer does not believe that Israel will succeed in eradicating Hamas. “I think the talk of eliminating Hamas is totally irrelevant. Ultimately, the goal, from a practical standpoint, is to paralyze Hamas to the point where it is no longer able to continue to dictate its radical and violent agenda.” »

The Israeli military campaign will most likely continue in order to further diminish the group's military capabilities, he adds, “but not with the same power and volume.”

With the clashes more than likely to continue, it is a safe bet that the big winner will ultimately be the radicalization of both sides. “Often, in such situations, the fanatics are the ones who stay, and the most critical [of the ruling regime] end up leaving,” notes Nizar Farsakh. As a result, the energy — sometimes existential — deployed by those wanting to annihilate their enemy becomes stronger than the passion deployed by their fellow citizens campaigning for peace.