While Hamas’s act of taking hostages is in violation of Article 8 of the Rome Statute, the total seige of Gaza with electricity, food and water prohibited is resulting in collective punishment being awarded to all residents of Gaza which is also illegal in international law.
Authors
Biswanath Gupta, Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Abhinav Mehrotra, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
United Nations General Assembly on 27th October 2023 has adopted a major resolution, calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities”. Though various discussions have happened regarding the political consequences of such resolutions, it is the content, process and consequence of this General Assembly Resolution that needs to be discussed in light of the international law violations that have taken place.
Generally, the main goal of each UNGA session is to take action on each agenda item that has been allocated to the UNGA for its consideration. “Considering” an agenda item involves first discussing the item and then adopting one or more resolutions on that item.
According to Article 10 of the UN Charter which defines the functions and powers of the GA, “The General Assembly may discuss any questions or any matters within the scope of the present Charter or relating to the powers and functions of any organs provided for in the present Charter, and,…may make recommendations to the Members of the United Nations or the Security Council or to both on any such questions or matters.”
In other words, resolutions adopted by the UNGA on agenda items are considered to be recommendations and are not legally binding on the Member States. The only resolutions that have the potential to be legally binding are those that are adopted by the Security Council.
Published in: TheDailyGuardian
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