At the time of writing, at least 198 people have been killed in Gaza in the worst violence seen in the area since 2014. There have been weeks of spiraling tensions after the threatened eviction of families in Sheikh Jarrah and clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque which have led to 200 people being injured, with Israel firing rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades into crowds.
Death is an anticipated outcome of war and those who die during an armed conflict, combatant and civilian alike, remain protected by IHL. The laws of armed conflict allow for the burial of those killed during an armed conflict in accordance with their religious rites.
On 4th November, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, launched a military operation against a non-state group, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), sparking a non-international armed conflict in the country. This offensive was undertaken after the TPLF attacked federal military units in the region
Kashmir Day marks a day of solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their fight for self-determination against Indian occupation. The last year has been especially tumultuous in the valley with Kashmiris suffering under lockdown after lockdown in what remains one of the most militarised zones in the world. India has, since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, acted in furtherance of its objective to annex the state to its territory.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force on January 22, 2021 and is being celebrated by many as the dawn of a new nuclear order. The treaty is the first of its kind in that it comprehensively bans the development and possession of nuclear weapons and is a result of 50 years worth of attempts to curb the proliferation of such weapons. Its proponents argue that the treaty challenges the hegemony and moral exceptionalism of the states that continue to possess nuclear weapons
International law is best understood as a system of positive law that is embedded within culture. It is not removed from humans or human society nor does it exist in a vacuum separate from the social contexts within which it operates.
The conflict has garnered much media attention not only because of concerns that two states going to war in the midst of a global pandemic would exacerbate its effects, but also because of the geostrategic importance of the dispute.
On 24 December 2014, the Arms Trade Treaty (“ATT”) entered into force with the object of ‘establish[ing] the highest possible common international standards for regulating or improving the regulation of the international trade in conventional arms’ for the purpose of ‘reducing human suffering’.
The lack of a clear demarcation between terrorist incidents and sufficiently protracted violence by an organized armed group contributes to this difficulty. While the Sindh High Court attempted to grapple with these issues the judgment rendered falls short in adequately clarifying the law and its application in this particular case.
Prior to 2014, “foreign fighters” and “terrorists” represented separate categories of individuals that fell under the jurisdiction of different international law regimes, namely international humanitarian law and the international counter-terrorism regime. However, after the landmark UNSC Resolution 2178 (2014) was passed in response to the influx of third-state fighters in support of ISIL and Al-Qaeda…