An opinion submitted Wednesday evening to the political echelon states that Israel has no legal obligation to allow Gaza residents who were evacuated to return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip. The position paper was written in recent days in light of claims raised by the defense establishment that according to the laws of war and international law, Israel must allow residents to be allowed to return to their homes.
Gazans evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip, Photo: AP
The position paper was signed by Dr. Rafi Biton from Sapir College, Prof. Eugene Kontorovich from George Mason University, and Prof. Avi Bell from the Bar Ilan Law Faculties and the Faculty of Law of the University of San Diego.
The three analyzed the state of war from a legal perspective, writing that the determination that the residents must be allowed to return north "will frustrate a major military objective in the war – locating and returning abductees." They also explained that the Israeli abductees were reportedly transferred to the southern Gaza Strip under the auspices of humanitarian corridors created by Israel, while being freed by their captors to locals. "Requiring the army to allow movement back (north) is tantamount to forcing the army to lose its grip on the concentration of abductees."
Masses of Gazans evacuate through the humanitarian corridor, photo: Arab networks
The three jurists stressed that "there is no relevance to the return of the population as long as the fighting continues." They detailed the state of war in the northern Gaza Strip and noted that "one of the indications of continued combat activity on the battlefield is the fact that Israel has not returned its civilian population that was evacuated from the areas opposite the northern Gaza Strip."
However, they stressed that "even if the fighting in the northern Gaza Strip stops, preventing the movement of enemy forces is a lawful method of warfare." In conclusion, the three jurists emphasized that "the IDF has no legal obligation to allow the return of the population to the northern Gaza Strip, and there should not be such a situation in the coming months. The IDF has a vital military need that justifies the non-return of the population as long as the fighting continues and as long as the goal of releasing the hostages remains intact."
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