Translated IHL Docs

On March 18, 2024, a number of Israeli NGOs filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as the High Court of Justice, challenging Israel's policy and actions regarding the provision and distribution of humanitarian aid and activities in Gaza during the current hostilities, instigated by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Due to various factual developments, the Court has held a number of hearings and required the petitioners and the respondents to file updated submissions in order to provide the Court with up-to-date information. The petition is currently ongoing.

The petition involves a discussion of Israel's international law obligations as relating to different fields of international law. The petitioners and the respondents have thus presented arguments regarding the applicability and interpretation of the legal obligations to allow and facilitate aid into areas of hostilities under international humanitarian law, the obligation to provide for civilians in areas to which the law of belligerent occupation applies, as well obligations under international human rights law and international criminal law. Such discussions have been supplemented by expert legal opinions from both Israeli and international legal experts.

Translations of the petitioners' submissions can be found here. In light of the interest to the international law community, we are uploading informal and unofficial translations of the respondents' submissions and the court's interim orders. A link to the dedicated page for the petition on the Supreme Court's website (in Hebrew) can be found here.

This page will be updated with additional material and translations on an ongoing basis.