Editors’ note: On Oct. 7, Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israel, as a result of which at least 1,400 Israelis were killed and hundreds were taken hostage. In the days since, Israeli forces have launched a counter-offensive in Gaza that has taken thousands of Palestinian lives, according to local reports. As tensions continue [...]
![Can International Law Truly Stand Up to Global Conflict?](https://www.jurist.org/commentary/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/10/justice_1698099977.jpg)
Whether international law has the capacity to establish the rule of law is a question one may well ask today as the world witnesses crimes against humanity committed in Israel against entire families, including babies, their siblings, parents and grandparents, and as Ukraine has entered a second year of fighting Russia’s invasion of its land, [...]
![Alabama to Subject Death Row Spiritual Advisors to Nitrogen Gas Risks](https://www.jurist.org/commentary/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/10/priests_1697825390.jpg)
In its euthanasia guidelines, the American Veterinary Medical Association advises against the use of nitrogen gas to kill rats. And yet Alabama is pushing ahead with plans to experiment with using the gas to execute its condemned. Even defendants convicted of the cruelest of murders cannot, except for cynically and spitefully, be said to be [...]
![Israel’s Strategic Doctrine: Nuclear Ambiguity and Iran-Backed Terror](https://www.jurist.org/commentary/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/10/nuclear_1697663433.jpg)
“For by Wise Counsel, Thou Shalt Make Thy War.” Proverbs 24,6 Israel’s nuclear posture remains closely held. On its face, this “ambiguous” stance appears perfectly reasonable. But a critically core question should now be raised: Is unmodified deliberate nuclear ambiguity (the “bomb in the basement”) still in the long-term survival interests of the beleaguered state. [...]
![Hamas Atrocities Cannot Rationalize the Starvation of Civilians](https://www.jurist.org/commentary/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/10/palestine_1697646806.jpg)
It is unbearable to observe the events of the last few days in the Middle Eastern region, especially between Israel and Palestine with anything other than shock and horror. These events have left us deeply disturbed, our hearts heavy with the distressing images of death, destruction, and suffering, as we mourn all the dead. At [...]
![UK Outspends the Rest of Europe on Housing Asylum Seekers](https://www.jurist.org/commentary/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/10/Home_Office_Marsham_Street_-_geograph.org_.uk_-_2292664.jpg)
A recent report by One, an aid campaign, and figures from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have found that the United Kingdom spends 40% more than its European neighbors on housing a single potential refugee or asylum seeker. This cost takes up nearly a third of its official aid budget and has [...]
![Hamas’s International Humanitarian Law Obligations Toward the Elderly](https://www.jurist.org/commentary/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/10/Yafa-Adar.png)
Following the October 7 attacks in Israel, distressing videos began circulating, showing Israelis being seized and dragged away into Gaza. Among the captured was an elderly woman, Yafa Adar, 85 years old. As she was forcibly driven into the Palestinian enclave on a golf cart, she wore a defiant expression and was wrapped in a [...]
![Kenya’s Climate Change Amendment Act: Striking a Balance with Carbon Markets](https://www.jurist.org/commentary/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/10/nairobi_1697204066.jpg)
As regions of the world grapple with the devastating impacts of climate change, Kenya’s Climate Change Amendment Act stands as landmark legislation that shifts the trajectory of the nation’s commitment to climate justice. The amendment serves as a comprehensive and forward-looking response to the escalating climate crisis. The Act introduces innovative provisions aimed at aligning [...]
![Charting the Path to Gender Equality in Indian Politics: The Women’s Reservation Bill and Beyond](https://www.jurist.org/commentary/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/05/india_1589430342.jpg)
The father of the Constitution of India, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, emphasised the centrality of equality as a measure of societal progress when he stated, “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.” In a significant stride toward advancing gender equality, the president of India gave assent to [...]
![Hamas Terror Attacks and International Law](https://www.jurist.org/commentary/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/10/Israel_1696865056.jpg)
In response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks against Israeli civilians, Israel mounted Operation Swords of Iron. Although international law allows for certain limited uses of insurgent force, including uses directed toward “self-determination,” these residual allowances do not include any rights of indiscriminate violence or of deliberate attacks on noncombatants. “Revenge,” of course, is [...]