International Humanitarian Law was trashed in 2002 in the Middle East, specifically in the Palestinian Israeli conflict. On the one hand the Israeli army escalated its breaches of international law by means of numerous violations. The most obvious ones include: extrajudicial killings, collective punishments (in the form of demolition of homes of families of those carrying out anti Israeli attacks), using human shields, indiscriminate attacks against civilians and a continuation of settlement activities.

The latter is a violation of the fourth Geneva Convention which forbids occupying powers from transferring its population to occupied areas. Other acts included mass restrictions on the movement of Palestinians, deportations and internal displacements and pillage of Palestinian property during the incursions into Palestinian areas, most prominently in April 2002.

Palestinians also were guilty of war crimes by their indiscriminate attacks on Israeli civilians. The attacks, most of them in the form of suicide bombings, were clearly intended to cause harm and injury to civilian populations.

Both Palestinians and Israelis were also guilty of the violation of Article 32 of the fourth Geneva Convention which clearly forbids retaliation. Both societies justified their violent actions against the other by saying that it was in retaliation against an act carried out by the other on their people.

Daoud Kuttab is director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al-Quds University in Ramallah.