In a piece for Opinio Juris, CERL Executive Board member Jens David Ohlin provides a legal assessment of the attacks by Hamas on Israel, demonstrating how the targeting of civilians, killings, and taking of hostages by Hamas not only constitute war crimes, but also crimes against humanity and genocide. He also makes clear that all parties to a conflict are held equally to the principles of international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict.
Jens David Ohlin is Allan R. Tessler Dean and Professor of Law at Cornell Law School in New York. He is also a member of the CERL Executive Board. Read his bio here.
The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of any organization or university.