Violation of laws in Israel – Hamas war and role of International Criminal Court

Abstract

 The surge in violence occurred once again in one of the world’s highly volatile regions with launching of a sudden attack by Hamas militants on Israel, resulting in many casualties. This attack in October 2023 is an important blood stained chapters in the saga of Independent Israel. Immediately after the dangerous attack on the territory of Israel, the military of Israel retaliated by attacking Gaza. During these attacks, the Palestinian Arab civilians  suffered huge losses in terms of life and property. The government of Israel with the aim of taking revenge is strongly determined  to eradicate Hamas. There were a number of violations attributed to Israel, which did not respect the postulates of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and also ignored the fundamental principles to ensure protection of their Arab citizens. The government and military of Israel faced criticism Internationally, but Israel justified every step undertaken in the conflict. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has an important role in  fixing accountability in serious crimes committed by the parties in Israel and Palestine. The ICC upon analysis of  causes and consequences involved in this conflict has highlighted the so called war crimes committed by forces of Israel in West Bank and Gaza besides turning the spot light on gross atrocities committed by Hamas who initiated this conflict. However, much required strong and effective steps need to be  taken for fixing responsibilities for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed repeatedly throughout this conflict. Decisive and stringent measures can also help in putting an end to this conflict and may act as a deterrent in future conflicts.