Dr Thomas MacManus, Senior Lecturer in State Crime at Queen Mary University of London, was interviewed by TRT World News on whether international humanitarian law applies to the Israeli-Palestinians conflict.
Flags outside of the United Nations offices in Vienna. Image by 995645 from Pixabay.
"What matters is if the law is going to be enforced. We can see the UN setting the terms of the debate and giving facts and interpreting the law for us but until we can see the main states involved doing something to enforce this, then we are going to see the kinds of scenes and continue seeing the disastrous effect on Gaza. Without the UK and US on board, the UN security council is locked up and the diplomatic will of the international community is being blocked by these states.
"Whether we dislike or don't agree with the actions of one side or the other it shouldn't affect the application of humanitarian law. We have attacks on civilians by Hamas which breached on civilian law and we have blockade and bombardment of civilians inside Gaza which also breached that law. There's nothing in international law to step back to base our response on how we feel about those actors."
Watch the full interview on the TRT World Now YouTube channel.