Israel-Hamas War: What Are Some Laws of War?

War brings with it chaos and tragedies. While the aim of both parties in a war is often retaliation and victory, it can still not cross all the limits to achieve these goals. As the Israel and Hamas war escalates, it is important to keep a check on whether the laws of war are maintained or not. 

International humanitarian law, or rules of law, is a stack of international laws that determine what can and cannot be executed at the time of an armed conflict.

International Humanitarian Law's chief purpose is to hold a level of humanity even in armed conflicts. It aims at safeguarding lives and decreasing the level of suffering amid war.

In order to achieve this goal, international humanitarian law regulates the war these armed conflicts are fought and aims at limiting the suffering.

These rules of war are not limited to only one country or a group of countries, but actually, they are universal in nature. The Geneva Conventions have been already ratified by all 196 states. There are not many international treaties that have managed to gain this level of support. However, the Geneva Conventions stand as an exception with robust support.

No matter how strong or aggressive a country is, if it is a part of an international war, it has to abide by international humanitarian law. These rules of war need to be abided by both non-State armed groups as well as the governmental forces.

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Just like any other rule in the world, in case the rules of war are broken, the one who breaks it needs to go through consequences. Who keeps a look at these war crimes?

Well, war crimes are actually investigated and documented by States along with the international courts. Moreover, individuals can also be prosecuted for war crimes.

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As per the rules of war, civilians may not be taken hostage or attacked. While targeting, it is a mandate for combatants to distinguish between military people and civilians. Moreover, it is also a mandate to take precautionary steps and abstain from hitting civilian structures such as schools and hospitals. Even in cases when the target chosen is a military structure, the combatants ought to take the right precautions in order to safeguard the civilians from getting attacked or harmed. Moreover, the rules prohibit any attack on objects that are a mandate and indispensable to the civilian population's survival. Even in densely populated areas, these duties must be abided by.

Additionally, it is important to note that the violation of the rules from one side does not permit the other side to retaliate by doing the same.

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