Advocating for a Ceasefire and Upholding International Law: The Urgency in Biden's Actions
Biden can bring peace to Israelis and Palestinians by calling for a ceasefire and upholding international law Mary Ellen O'Connell urges Biden to prioritize an immediate ceasefire to change the current reality on the ground
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Mary Ellen O'Connell
An Israeli self-propelled artillery howitzer fires rounds from a position near the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel on November 6, 2023 during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas group. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)
A Palestinian child receives treatment at Nasser Medical Hospital after a strike in Khan Younis, Gaza, on November 7.
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People mourn as they wait for the bodies of members of a family killed in a strike to be removed from Rafah's al-Najjar Hospital for burial on November 7.
Abed Rahim Khatib/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
Photographs of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas militants are projected onto the walls of Jerusalem's Old City on November 6.
A soldier takes cover as an artillery unit fires from an undisclosed location near the Israel-Gaza border on November 6.
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Israel Defense Forces/Reuters
Search and rescue teams successfully extinguished a fire igniting amidst the ruins of a demolished building following an Israeli assault in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Saturday, November 4th.
Rockets are launched from Gaza into Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, in southern Israel, on November 4.
Amir Cohen/Reuters
The funerals of Palestine TV journalist Mohammad Abu Hattab and his eleven family members took place in Khan Younis, Gaza, on November 3, where a relative bid them farewell after their tragic deaths.
Neta Heiman, a peace activist, holds a photograph of her mother, Ditza Heiman, who is being held hostage by Hamas, in Haifa, Israel on Thursday, November 2.
Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Palestinians with dual citizenship show their passports while seeking permission to leave Gaza at the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, on November 1.
Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg/Getty Images
An Israeli Apache helicopter fires flares over Gaza, seen from Sderot, Israel, on November 1.
Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
On November 1, Palestinians are seen crossing the border between Gaza and Egypt at the Rafah border crossing. According to officials and Egyptian media, injured Palestinians and foreign nationals from Gaza have commenced the authorized movement into Egypt. This marks the first permitted exodus from the besieged enclave in weeks.
Friends and family mourn Yosef Vahav, 65, who was killed following Hamas' infiltration from Gaza, at his funeral in Beit Guvrin, Israel on Tuesday, October 31.
Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu/Getty Images
Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa/AP
Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli airstrikes in Rafah on October 30.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Manna grieves the loss of her daughter, Tamar Chaya Torpiashvili, a 9-year-old girl who passed away shortly after suffering from a heart attack during a siren alerting the community of rockets being launched from Gaza into Israel. Manna bids farewell to Tamar at her funeral held in Ashdod, located in southern Israel, on October 29.
Israeli armored vehicles on the move near the border with Gaza, in Sderot, Israel on the morning of October 28.
People check the destruction following Israeli strikes on Al-Shatee camp in Gaza City on October 28.
Anas al-Shareef/Reuters
Dima Vazinovich/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
People take cover as rocket sirens sound during the funeral of Sagiv Ben Zvi in Holon, Israel, on Thursday, October 26.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
A woman looks from behind a gate at the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes at a hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 26.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires a shell from southern Israel towards Gaza on October 25.
Palestinians mourn their loved ones killed in an Israeli strike, outside Najjar hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on October 24.
Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli soldiers cry during the funeral of Sgt. Yam Goldstein and her father, Nadav, in Kibbutz Shefayim, Israel, on October 23.
Ariel Schalit/AP
Khaled Joudeh mourns his young sister, Misq, at the morgue at Deir Al-Balah hospital in Gaza on October 22.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Relatives mourn for a man killed by Hamas during his funeral in Nir Oz, Israel, on October 22.
A photo hangs on a refrigerator dotted with bullet holes in a home in Kibbutz Kissufim, Israel, on October 21.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
Muslim Palestinians take part in Friday noon prayers as Israeli police look on in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud, on October 20.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Civil defense teams and residents continue search and rescue efforts at a Greek Orthodox church after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 20.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images
During a visit to Israel's border with Gaza on October 19, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with soldiers and shared a resolute message: "As you observe Gaza from afar, remember that soon you will witness it firsthand."
A woman mourns over a dead man at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza City on October 18.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Ayal Margolin/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
President Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on October 18.
Kenny Holston/The New York Times/Redux
Bodies of Palestinians killed in the blast at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital lie in front of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on October 17.
Abed Khaled/AP
On October 17, in Gan-Yavne, Israel, individuals paid their respects by laying wreaths at a funeral held for the Israeli Kutz family. Tragically, this family of five were victims of a heinous act committed by Palestinian militants. These extremists had managed to infiltrate the Israeli Kibbutz of Kfar Aza just a week prior.
Aid supplies are seen in North Sinai, Egypt on October 16.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Fatima Shbair/AP
Israeli army soldiers patrol at an undisclosed position in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on October 15.
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Antonio Macías' mother weeps beside her son's lifeless body at Pardes Haim cemetery in Kfar Saba, Israel, on October 15th. Macías tragically lost his life during an Israeli music festival this month when he was targeted by Hamas.
People react at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Saturday, October 14.
Leaflets dropped from Israeli army planes fall over Gaza City on Friday, October 13.
Hatem Ali/AP
Dor Kedmi/AP
Palestinians flee from northern Gaza to the south after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning to seek refuge in the south, on October 13.
Hatem Moussa/AP
Israeli soldiers patrol near Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel, on October 12.
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
An Israeli military helicopter flies near the border between Gaza and Sderot, Israel, on October 12.
A morgue worker arranges body bags at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on October 12.
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Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images
Mourners react beside the body of Mapal Adam during her funeral in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 11.
Francisco Seco/AP
Israeli soldiers load donated food into the back of a military vehicle in Sderot, Israel, on October 11.
Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux
On October 11, at a cemetery in Modiin Maccabim, Israel, Itzik and Miriam Shafir, in the center, solemnly mourn during the funeral of their son. Dor Shafir along with his girlfriend, Savion Kiper, tragically lost their lives during the music festival attack carried out by Hamas on Saturday.
Smoke rises after Israeli strikes on the seaport of Gaza City on Tuesday, October 10.
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Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Palestinians walk amid the rubble following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 10.
Fatima Shbair/AP
People gather around the bodies of two Palestinian reporters, Mohammed Soboh and Said al-Tawil, who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 10.
Fatima Shbair/AP
A family takes shelter at a neighbor's house after their home was damaged in an Israeli airstrike in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza on October 9.
A photo from a wedding is seen on the ground of a building in Ashkelon that was hit by rockets from Gaza on October 9.
Samar Abu Elouf/The New York Times/Redux
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A Palestinian man mourns over the body of his nephew killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 9.
Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Palestinians inspect the damage following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi mosque in Gaza City on October 9.
Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Getty Images
A plume of smoke rises in the sky over Gaza City during an Israeli airstrike on October 9.
Palestinians inspect damage from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City's Shati refugee camp on October 9.
Erik Marmor/AP
Fatima Shbair/AP
An Israeli soldier prays standing in front of a tank on the outskirts of the northern town of Kiryat Shmona on October 8.
Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images
Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from Gaza on October 8.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Rockets launched from Gaza are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system on October 8.
A woman runs to her family's reinforced concrete shelter moments after rocket sirens sounded in Ashkelon on October 7.
Fatima Shbair/AP
Tsafrir Abayov/AP
An Israeli woman reacts over the body of her relative who was killed in the southern Israeli city of Sderot on October 7.
Baz Ratner/AP
Vehicles in Ashkelon burn as rockets are launched from Gaza on October 7.
Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters
Palestinians inspect a destroyed building as emergency responders try to contain fires after Israeli jets bombed Gaza on October 7.
Relatives of Palestinians killed on Saturday, October 7, mourn at the morgue of a hospital in Gaza.
Amir Cohen/Reuters
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
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The piercing sorrow of a child's birthday celebration in Gaza highlights the importance of adhering to international laws on the use of force. These laws, which are covered in various intricate treaties such as the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, establish guidelines for the conduct of force. These guidelines are superior to treaties and apply to all combatants in armed conflict, leaving no room for exceptions. They encompass principles such as distinguishing between civilians and combatants, ensuring actions are necessary and proportionate, and upholding humanity.
Respecting the rights of civilians under international law in anti-terror wars becomes extremely challenging, as evidenced by Israel's bombings in heavily populated Gaza. The principle stands that if there is uncertainty regarding an individual's civilian status, they should be presumed as such. It is never acceptable to deny essential resources such as food, water, medicine, and other necessities to the civilian populace.
Israeli elite soldiers are utilizing virtual reality (VR) battlefield technology to simulate Hamas tunnels that connect Gaza to Israel. This training is taking place at an Israeli Army base in Petach Tikva, Israel. The soldiers are using top-quality headsets provided by Oculus, the virtual reality headset manufacturer owned by Facebook Inc., as well as Vive, owned by HTC Corp. The photograph was captured by Rina Castelnuovo and is part of the Bloomberg/Getty Images collection.
Join us on Twitter and Facebook. Additionally, there are concerns about the war escalating into a larger regional conflict and the potential challenges associated with governance if Israel successfully dismantles Hamas. Tom Bowman, NPR's Pentagon correspondent, highlighted these concerns by asking, "If Hamas is destroyed, who will assume control in Gaza? Could these tactics lead to the emergence of more militants?"
