The Protection Iof Children During Iarmed Conflicts: Israeli Violations Of International Humanitarian Law In Three Wars In Gaza

Priyamvada Singh Solanki, Amity Law School

Children iare iin ithe imost ivulnerable igroup iduring iarmed iconflicts, itherefore iinternational ilegal iprotection iexists ifor ithe ichildren ito ibe iprotected iagainst ithe iruthless iimpacts iof iwars. iThe iInternational iHumanitarian i Law i (IHL) i governs i the i rules i of i conduct i in i armed iconflicts, iin ithat iit iis iconcerned iwith ithe irights iand iresponsibilities iof ithe iparties iinvolved iduring ithe iconflict, iand itherefore iwill iattempt ito ilessen ithe isufferings iand istop ithe iabuse iof ithose iwho ido inot iwish ito iget iinvolved, ii.e., ithe icivilians i(Hastuti, i2016).1 iThe iIHL ialso iprovides ispecial irules ito iprotect ichildren iduring iarmed iconflicts. iThe iconcept iof ithe iprotection iof ichildren iwas ifirst icoined iin ithe i4th iGeneva iConvention iin i1949. iThe iGeneva iConvention idiscussed iseveral iarticles iregarding ithe iprotection iof ichildren ithat iwill ibe iapplicable iduring iinternational iarmed iconflicts. iFurthermore, iArticle i77 i(1) iof iProtocol iI i(1977) istates ithat ichildren imust ibe irespected iand iprotected iagainst iany iforms iof iviolations. iAid iand icare ishould ialso ibe igiven ito ithem. iThe ioutcomes iof ithe i4th iGeneva iConventions ihelp ito iovercome ithe ishortcomings iof ithe iIHL, iparticularly ias ia iresult iof iWorld iWar iII iwhere imost iof ithe ivictims iwere icivilians iwhich iincluded ichildren i(The iUnited iNations iInstitute ifor iDisarmament iResearch i[UNIDIR], i2011).