Document Type
Article
Abstract
Last month, the International Court of Justice rebuked Israel in an advisory opinion for blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza during the course of the Israel-Hamas war there and emphasized that starvation of civilian populations as a method of warfare is prohibited under prevailing international humanitarian law. Predictably, Israel’s UN ambassador dismissed the advisory opinion as “shameful.”
Now that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is in the rearview mirror, it is important to assess the legal and moral aspects and ramifications of Israel’s two-year blockade of Gaza. Specifically, the question that needs to be asked, but that does not have a simple or simplistic answer, is whether the manner in which the blockade was carried out violated international humanitarian law.
Date of Authorship for this Version
11-19-2025
Keywords
Israel-Hamas war, Gaza blockade, IHL
Recommended Citation
Rosensaft, Menachem Z., "Israel's Blockade of Gaza was Legal; Withholding Humanitarian Aid, Not So Much" (2025). Cornell Law Faculty Working Papers. 191.
https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/clsops_papers/191