Israel's legal framework for Gaza strikes

Clovis Maksoud

Jul 22, 2014

An Israeli Apache helicopter fires a missile towards the Gaza Strip July 22, 2014. Israel pounded targets across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, saying no ceasefire was near as top U.S. and United Nations diplomats pursued talks on halting the fighting that has claimed more than 600 lives. With the conflict entering its third week, the Palestinian death toll rose to 616, including nearly 100 children and many other civilians, Gaza health officials said. Israel's casualties also mounted, with the military announc — An Israeli Apache helicopter fires a missile toward the Gaza Strip, July 22, 2014. — REUTERS/Nir Elias

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The license that Israel has given itself to strike at will in the Gaza Strip and attack the civilian population and infrastructure in the ferocious manner that it has done during the last two weeks and frequently before indicates that it is not bound by the normal restrictions of an occupying power.

Israel allows itself to strike at will by air and, if necessary, by ground invasion, because it ceded effective control of the Gaza territory in 2005 and declared Gaza a “sui generis” entity.