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The Humanity Clause: Gaza’s Fall And Humanity Failure




Raghav Kaura, Himachal Pradesh National Law University


ABSTRACT


The events of October 7, 2023, marked a rupture in the global conscience. The act of incursion in Southern Israel turned into a prolonged conflicts that exposed the fragility of justice, peace and humanitarian law. In the following month, Israeli military operations in Gaza drew a widespread scrutiny for their scale, intensity, and impact on civilians. These developments demand a careful analysis under international law, particularly on the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948).


This article situates the Israel-Hamas conflict within the framework of international humanitarian law and Genocide jurisprudence. This article explores the definitional elements of the genocide, also assesses whether Israel conduct in Gaza meets the threshold under Articles II(a) and II(b) of the Genocide Convention, and considers the implications of such findings for state responsibility and accountability. Ultimately, it argues that the prohibition of genocide must be followed not just as a legal norm but also as a moral imperative, requiring urgent judicial inquiry and decisive internation actions.


Hamas is a Military group started as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1987. The meaning of Hamas is Islamic Resistance Movement. The group is opposed to the existence of Israel on what it says is the land that belongs to Palestine. Its demands of wanting an Islamic-based rule over the region across the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza are considered radical by Israeli officials for obvious reasons.


The incursions that happened on October 7 resulted in more than 1200 human casualties and around 200–500 hostages. The event initiated a power struggle among the Hezbollah backed Hamas and US backed Israeli forces and the conflict embroiled into a full-fledged war among the interested parties by the end of 2023 till the very short lived ceasefire that was reached on January 15, 2024 until Israel decided to break it with its operation, “operation Might and Sword”.



Indian Journal of Law and Legal Research

Abbreviation: IJLLR

ISSN: 2582-8878

Website: www.ijllr.com

Accessibility: Open Access

License: Creative Commons 4.0

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All research articles published in The Indian Journal of Law and Legal Research are fully open access. i.e. immediately freely available to read, download and share. Articles are published under the terms of a Creative Commons license which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

 

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The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the IJLLR or its members. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the IJLLR.

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