This is how Israel has violated the Geneva Conventions for 75 years

Seventy-five years after the world adopted the Geneva Conventions, they still remain in effect—at least in theory—despite repeated violations, mostly by the self-proclaimed defender of democracy and freedom, the United States, and its allies.

International humanitarian laws establishing the legal standards for humane treatment of civilians and combatants in war, the Geneva Conventions, were adopted on August 12, 1949, in response to the horrific crimes Nazi Germany and Hitler’s Axis nations committed during World War II.

The need for legally binding standards for dignified treatment of people living under foreign occupation can’t be overstated even after 75 years of their ratification.

Data compiled by the International Committee of the Red Cross, a Geneva-based humanitarian organisation, shows that there are currently more than 120 armed conflicts worldwide involving 60 states and 120 non-state armed groups.

Many state and non-state actors violate the Geneva Conventions as global power brokers conveniently look the other way.

But Israel has undoubtedly emerged as the most egregious and brazen violator of international humanitarian laws in more than seven decades.

Most of the nearly 40,000 victims of Israel’s full-fledged war on Gaza since October last year are women and children, in contravention of the Geneva Conventions that Israel ratified on July 6, 1951.

Here’s a quick look at how Israel continues to violate the Geneva Conventions on a daily basis.

Settlements in occupied territories

Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that an occupying power must not transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

In simpler words, Israel isn’t allowed under the Geneva Conventions to “settle” its citizens inside the Palestinian territories it occupies—something Tel Aviv has done rather systematically on the occupied West Bank since 1967.

Under international humanitarian law, Israel is the “occupying power” in the “occupied territories” of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, captured during the 1967 war. Palestinians seek all three areas for their own independent state.

Therefore, Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories are clearly a violation of this provision.

The United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Security Council and the International Court of Justice have all said that Israeli settlements on the West Bank violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which specifically deals with the rights of civilians in areas of armed conflict and occupied territories.

Despite the so-called peace process, which continued in fits and starts over many years, successive Israeli governments allowed for the expansion of these settlements. The number of settlers in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, increased from approximately 110,000 in 1993 to more than half a million last year.

Israeli settlements have caused massive land expropriation in Palestinian territories. These settlements not only reduced the amount of land available for Palestinian agriculture and development but also fragmented Palestinian territories. Moreover, Israel has used these settlements as an excuse to delay the establishment of a contiguous and viable Palestinian.

The presence of Israeli settlements and the accompanying infrastructure, such as settler-only roads and military checkpoints, have also restricted the movement of Palestinians, thus reducing employment opportunities and hindering trade and commerce.

Treatment of civilians

Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention also states that no “protected” person—meaning a non-combatant who winds up at the mercy of an occupying power—should be punished for an offence they’ve not personally committed.

“Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or terrorism are prohibited. Pillage is prohibited. Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited,” it says.

Yet Israel has repeatedly demolished homes in the occupied Palestinian territories, erected blockades and imposed restrictions on civilian movement—measures that meet the definition of collective punishment.

Similarly, the use of force against civilians by Israel during military operations—especially air strikes in densely populated areas since October that have destroyed 75 percent of Gaza’s infrastructure—violates the principles of distinction and proportionality under international humanitarian law.

During the 311 days of its ongoing war on Gaza, Israel has violated daily the provision of the Geneva Conventions about “humane” treatment of the people who take “no active part” in the hostilities “in all circumstances”.

Israel has repeatedly killed children, bombed hospitals and attacked funerals without a care for the Geneva Conventions.

Detention practices

Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions deals with the treatment of detainees by an occupying power. The law says no physical or moral coercion must be exercised against protected persons to obtain information from them. The occupying power must not cause the physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in their hands, it adds.

“This prohibition applies not only to murder, torture, corporal punishment, mutilation and medical or scientific experiments not necessitated by the medical treatment of a protected person, but also to any other measures of brutality whether applied by civilian or military agents,” it says.

Yet Israel has been accused of all of the above crimes, especially since October last year. In particular, Israel’s brutal treatment of Palestinian prisoners since October has received widespread condemnation.

The Zionist state has been practising “administrative detention” since long before October as it holds Palestinian individuals without charge or trial in stark violation of due process rights under international law.