Gaza Herald – Since October 7th, 2023, the Gaza Strip has become an open laboratory for violating every rule of international law. This was never just a war of bombs and casualties. It was a systematic project to dismantle everything that protects Palestinian civilians.
Over two years, the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and hundreds of human rights organizations have documented crimes committed by Israel against 2.3 million besieged Palestinians. The question today is no longer: “Did Israel violate the law?” The question is: “How many more crimes will go unpunished?”
International Humanitarian Law: Shredded Under Bombardment
The Geneva Conventions are clear: civilians are protected. Hospitals are protected. Schools are protected. In Gaza, Israel bombed them all. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israeli forces committed:
Direct targeting of civilians, willful killing, torture, forcible transfer, and deliberate destruction of civilian objects.
These are not “mistakes of war.” These are war crimes, documented and verified. The principles of “distinction” and “proportionality” that Israel claims to uphold collapsed under the weight of the numbers from the Gaza Ministry of Health: more than 73,470 Palestinians killed and 174,540 injured. meaning 1 out of every 9 people in Gaza has been killed or wounded. When an army drops 2,000-pound bombs on refugee camps and calls it “self-defense,” it is not applying the law. It mocks it. 2. Starvation as a Weapon of War: “We Fight Them Through Their Bread.” International law explicitly prohibits the use of starvation as a method of warfare. Israel made it state policy. Tel Aviv blocked food, fuel, water, and medicine. It bombed bakeries and flour mills. It dismantled the aid system and targeted UNRWA, the only lifeline for most Gazans.
The result: famine in northern Gaza, children dying of malnutrition, and parents grinding animal feed to make bread. In March 2024, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to enable the provision of humanitarian aid. Israel ignored the order. Later, the UN Commission of Inquiry went further and concluded that the use of starvation against civilians constituted a war crime.
This was also one of the key charges cited by the ICC Prosecutor when requesting arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024. You cannot claim you are fighting Hamas while you are deliberately depriving 2.2 million civilians of water.
Collective Punishment: Punishing 2.2 Million for a Crime They Did Not Commit. A full siege. Cutting electricity. Blocking fuel and preventing the return of displaced people.
This is the textbook definition of collective punishment, prohibited under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel punished all of Gaza for the actions of armed groups. UN agencies have repeatedly stated that civilians must not bear the consequences of acts committed by fighters.
But in Gaza, the siege itself became the punishment. The closure of crossings, the restriction of aid, and the destruction of infrastructure were all used to break the will of an entire population. Forcible Transfer: The “Greater Israel” Project on the Ruins of Our Homes. Repeated evacuation orders. Bombing so-called “safe zones.” Pushing people south, then bombing the south.
The goal was never safety. The goal was emptying Gaza. The UN Commission of Inquiry found cases of forcible transfer of Palestinians. The conditions made return impossible: no safe areas, no water, no shelter, and ongoing military operations. And then came the confessions. In September 2026, Defense Minister Israel Katz admitted there is a “fully prepared plan” to expel Palestinians “by land, sea, and air,” awaiting U.S. approval.
One day later, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir unveiled “Disengagement 710”, a 7-year plan to remove 1.86 million Palestinians, over 80% of Gaza’s population.
This is not speculation. This is an official admission of intent to commit ethnic cleansing. The Erasure of Hospitals, Schools, and Culture. Under the law, hospitals have special protection. In Gaza, 36 out of 38 hospitals were put out of service. Doctors were arrested and tortured. Paramedics were killed in their uniforms. The same happened to education and culture. Over 80% of buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. Universities were bombed. Mosques and churches were leveled. Archives and libraries were burned. This is not collateral damage. When you destroy every university, every hospital, and every bakery, the goal is not military. The goal is to make life in Gaza impossible. Torture in Prisons and Field Detention Camps. Leaked videos and survivor testimonies documented the torture of Palestinians from Gaza in Israeli detention. Beatings, sleep deprivation, starvation, sexual assault, and humiliating treatment. The prohibition of torture is absolute under international law. It cannot be suspended, not even in war.
Yet the UN and human rights groups have documented systematic abuse that may amount to crimes against humanity. Have We Reached Genocide? Yes. We Have. South Africa brought a case to the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention.
Then, in September 2025, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry made a historic finding: Israel has committed 4 acts of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to its legal assessment. This is not a political statement. This is a legal conclusion from the highest UN investigative body. The Court has not issued a final ruling yet, but the warning signs are all there.8. Accountability: Arrest Warrants Without Enforcement. In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for war crimes including starvation, murder, and persecution.
But the accused remain free. And the weapons keep flowing. This exposes the central flaw: international law exists, but the political will to enforce it does not.
The Law Exists. The Will Does Not. The list is long and damning:
Violation of distinction. Violation of proportionality. Targeting civilians. Starvation. Collective punishment. Forcible transfer. Attacking hospitals. Torture. Destroying schools. War crimes. Crimes against humanity. Genocide. International law did not fail in Gaza. The international community failed to apply it. Despite the mass killing, the destruction, and the suffocating siege, the Palestinian people remain steadfast. Hundreds of families in Egypt have registered to return to Gaza and have paid thousands of dollars to go back to rubble and danger. Because the message is clear: We will not be displaced. This is our land.
The challenge now is no longer documenting the crime. The challenge is turning these documents into real accountability before international courts, so that international law is not just words on paper, but a real tool to protect civilians and punish those responsible for the worst crimes.
