Amid a violent escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan this week condemned both Israel and the Palestinians for serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Addressing a meeting of the Security Council on March 12, the Secretary General said the recent toll of dead and wounded in the Middle East – particularly among innocent civilians – could be described without exaggeration as "appalling".

Annan said he was "profoundly disturbed by the increasing use of heavy weaponry by Israel in civilian areas" during the last three weeks, and warned against "the unnecessary use of lethal force". In addition, he said, "the International Committee of the Red Cross and other agencies are reporting growing disregard, on the part of the Israeli Defence Forces, for the safety of medical and ambulance personnel who are attempting to treat and evacuate wounded from conflict zones."

Annan urged Israel to end what he described as the "illegal occupation" of Palestinian lands – the first time, according to his official spokesman, that he has characterised Israel’s presence in the occupied territories as illegal.

Turning to the Palestinians, the Secretary General said he was "particularly disturbed by suicide attacks which deliberately target civilians, spreading fear and anxiety throughout the general population". He added that the deliberate and indiscriminate targeting of civilians was "morally repugnant".

The Secretary General’s comments are the strongest he has made to date about the situation in the Middle East. By couching his criticism is such harsh terms, he added the weight of his office to a growing chorus of voices asserting that important principles of international law are being flouted by both sides in the latest phase of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Geneva Conventions of 1949, together with their two Additional Protocols of 1977, clearly forbid the deliberate targeting of civilians and the use of indiscriminate force. Direct attacks on medical transports and personnel are also prohibited, and forces are enjoined to facilitate access for medical personnel and ensure their safety wherever possible.

(Although Israel is not a party to the Additional Protocols, many of their rules reflect customary law or simply add detail to the rules in the 1949 Geneva Conventions, by which Israel is bound.)

According to the Palestinian human rights organization LAW, at least 113 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces between February 28 (when Israel began its current program of incursions into refugee camps) and March 10. On March 12, before Annan’s speech, 17 Palestinians were killed during a single raid into the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza strip. Palestinian and Israeli authorities differ on whether some of those killed should be described as terrorists or civilians.

During the same period, according to the Israeli government, 41 Israeli civilians were killed by suicide bombs and other Palestinian attacks.

In the last two weeks, at least five ambulances have been fired on by Israeli forces, with six medical workers killed and twelve wounded, according to information from the International Committee of the Red Cross and LAW. There have also been allegations that ambulances have not been allowed access to wounded Palestinians.

The Israeli government has claimed that ambulances have sometimes been used to carry Palestinian gunmen. It says that it allows medical personnel access whenever the military situation permits.

More generally, it has defended its actions as legitimate self-defence against terrorism, and argued that Palestinian groups have deliberately targeted civilians, unlike the Israeli army.

However, some groups within Israel have been sharply critical of the government’s policies. On March 12, the human rights organization B’Tselem warned that "a black flag of illegality" hung over the actions of Israeli forces in the refugee camps:

"In every city and refugee camp that they have entered, IDF soldiers have repeated the same pattern: indiscriminate firing and the killing of innocent civilians, intentional harm to water, electricity and telephone infrastructure, taking over civilian houses, extensive damage to civilian property, shooting at ambulances and prevention of medical care to the injured."

The Secretary General’s statement that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is in itself illegal is challenged by some authorities on the subject. According to Adam Roberts, Professor of International Relations at Oxford University, "there is no doubt that much of Israel’s conduct in the occupied territories contravenes international law, particularly the establishment of settlements, which is in breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. But it is not clear that the fact of the occupation as such is illegal."

In a press conference following his statement, Annan said that the Security Council and the General Assembly have both "on various occasions, declared aspects of the Israeli occupation illegal".

An earlier discussion of the laws of war and the Middle East conflict, which examines the general legal background to the current situation, can be found in Expert Analysis–Arab-Israeli Conflict and the Laws of War.


Related chapters from the Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know

Arab-Israeli War
Israel’s Views of the Application of IHL to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
Civilians, Illegal Targeting of
Indiscriminate Attack
Medical Transports
Medical Personnel
Property: Civilian, Destruction of

Related Links

Amnesty International Press Conference
Statement of Curt Goering, Deputy Executive Director, Amnesty International USA
American Colony Hotel Jerusalem March 19, 2002

B’Tselem
The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.

International Committee of the Red Cross.

LAW
The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights & the Environment.

Statement of the UN Secretary General on the Middle East
12 March 2002