InternationalLawBlog

New post: 'Structural Biases and Barriers in International Law facing the “Global South”: the Need for Tangible Reforms' By Ali Alabdali internationallaw.blog/2026/04/08/str… via @InternationalLawBlog

Does Israel have the right to invade, occupy, annex Lebanon? Some say yes. Others say no. Who is right? Full breakdown: open.substack.com/pub/simplelaw/…

BREAKING! Amid widespread bombing across Arab regions, Israel approves its largest-ever colonial expansion. Under the "fog of war'', what I warned on 14 Oct 2023 is unfolding: the largest ethnic cleansing/land grab in Palestine, since the Nakba. It’s happening. Under our watch.

BREAKING: US-Iran ceasefire announced. HOURS LATER: Israel bombs Lebanon, Iran blocks Hormuz again. What happened? Here are 5 reasons it's so fragile: open.substack.com/pub/simplelaw/…

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security forcefully condemns Israel’s horrific assault on Lebanon today, in an operation Israel has dubbed “Eternal Darkness.” Within a timeframe of ten minutes, Israel launched 100 simultaneous attacks against 60 targets across Lebanon, including ten densely populated neighborhoods in central Beirut. These attacks came completely without warning. According to a preliminary count from the General Directorate of Civil Defense, 254 people have been killed and 1,165 others injured, many of them women and children. This is the largest wave of airstrikes in Israel’s war on Lebanon. According to Al Jazeera reporter Malcolm Webb, “[m]any of the locations where these weapons hit are also areas where Hezbollah isn’t known to have any significant presence.” Israel decided to commit this new atrocity despite Hezbollah's agreement to abide by the 2-week ceasefire negotiated last night between the U.S. and Iran, in which, according to Pakistani negotiators, Lebanon was included. Israel appears not to have been involved in the negotiations and news of the ceasefire was received with alarm in Israel. Israel may have wished to sabotage peace with its attacks on Lebanon. The Prime Minister may have wanted to use a massive demonstration of violence to project strength at a moment of weakness and force the U.S. back into war. Whatever the case, Israel has committed a bloodbath in Lebanon today. Today’s attacks were a clear atrocity crime no matter how Israel tries to justify it. It is high time that the Western nations, especially the United States, which has blocked any meaningful effort to challenge Israel’s impunity, end their slavish relationship to the state of Israel and work to isolate it militarily and diplomatically to bring it back to sanity. This must happen fast, before Lebanese casualties mount and Israel completely destroys all of Lebanon as it has destroyed all of Gaza. Read more: bit.ly/RFALebanonUpda…

New post: 'Structural Biases and Barriers in International Law facing the “Global South”: the Need for Tangible Reforms' By Ali Alabdali internationallaw.blog/2026/04/08/str… via @InternationalLawBlog

📢UN Special Rapporteur @FranceskAlbs has issued a new report "Torture and Genocide". The report argues that torture is not an isolated crime but is "a structural feature of the ongoing genocide & broader settler-colonial apartheid" against Palestinians.⤵️ un.org/unispal/docume…

New Post: 'Does Iran Possess the Right to Close the Strait of Hormuz under International Law?' By Mohammad Yousef internationallaw.blog/2026/04/06/doe… via @InternationalLawBlog

In this piece, I offer a different legal perspective on why a partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz by #Iran may not violate #InternationalLaw ⚖️

I am Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, a medical doctor & the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, I continue to demand, since his abduction, the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya from the brutal detention by Israel. He faces imminent and grave danger as a result of ill-treatment and inhumane conditions & the denial of medical care has been leading to severe physical mental harm and his current deterioration is rapid - these are gross human rights violations. #FreeDrHussamAbuSafiya #ReleaseDrHussamAbuSafiya #FreeThemAll

"These acts cannot become the new norm. The world must reaffirm, unequivocally, that the protection of health care is not optional, but a universal obligation and a measure of our collective humanity."

Over 100 international lawyers (including me) warn that U.S. strikes on Iran violate the UN Charter and may be war crimes.

Ben Gvir popped champagne on the Knesset floor to celebrate a death penalty law that only applies to Palestinians. In this analysis, I trace it back to the British Mandate and the ways colonial power still learns from and restores its own history: mondoweiss.net/2026/04/the-ro…

BREAKING: Israel's Knesset has passed a law to execute Palestinian detainees. Death by hanging. Mandatory sentencing. No pardon. 90 days to carry out. It applies through military courts with a 96% conviction rate. It does not apply to Israelis.

Israel must immediately repeal the discriminatory death penalty law passed today by the Knesset, as it contravenes Israel’s obligations under international law. The United Nations opposes the death penalty under all circumstances. The implementation of this new law would violate international law's prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. Additionally, this law further entrenches Israel’s violation of the prohibition of racial segregation and apartheid as it will exclusively apply to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Israel, who are often convicted after unfair trials. Read @UNHumanRights earlier statement and analysis about the death penalty draft bill: ohchr.org/en/press-relea……

EU-Israel Association Agt, which proclaims respect for human rights & democratic principles as its "essential element", has yet to be suspended. "The adoption of this bill would risk undermining Israel’s commitments with regards to democratic principles." auswaertiges-amt.de/en/newsroom/ne…

The Lemkin Institute is horrified by the recent spike in the number of civilian casualties in Lebanon due to ongoing Israeli strikes, as well as the expansion of Israel’s target area within Lebanon. In our last RFA on Lebanon, the death toll stood at 394, including 83 children. In the span of only two weeks, the figures have surged to over 1,094 people killed, including 121 children and 81 women. According to UNICEF, the equivalent of an entire classroom of children is killed or injured every day in Lebanon. These numbers can be expected to increase as Israel continues its attacks on densely populated areas. The repeated “evacuation orders” issued with limited time notice, and lacking clearly defined safe corridors, effectively function as mass displacement orders. One million people are now displaced from their homes. As in Gaza, medical workers in Lebanon are on the frontlines of Israeli attacks. Since the war began on 2 March, Israel has struck at least 128 medical facilities and ambulances across Lebanon, killing 42 healthcare workers and wounding 107. The Israeli governments is now openly threatening to export its mass atrocity crimes perpetrated in Gaza to Lebanon. Defense Minister Israel Katz recently directed the military to destroy all crossings over the Litani River and demolish homes near the border “in accordance with the model of Beit Hanoun and Rafah,” in reference to Israel’s prior razing of towns in Gaza. These attacks he said, are “a message to the Lebanese state.” The message that emerges most clearly is that Israel is actively preparing the ground for the invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon. The Lemkin Institute reiterates its call for effective international action to stop Israel’s attacks on Lebanon. Israel is heading down the same road of total destruction that it paved in Gaza and is paving in the Occupied Territories. It is time for world powers to show courage and act on principle. Even if IHL no longer exists, as many powerholders say, the morality and ethics reflected in IHL still do. Without them, the world is lost. Full Statement: bit.ly/RFALebanonUpda… Photo credits: Philippe Pernot

'Artificial Intelligence, Causation and State Responsibility in Cyberspace' by Nuno Marques internationallaw.blog/2026/03/23/art… via @InternationalLawBlog

L’Assemblée générale de l'ONU déclare que la traite des Africains réduits en esclavage et l’esclavage racialisé des Africains sont « l’injustice la plus inhumaine et la plus durable contre l’humanité » 123 pour 3 contre (États-Unis, Israël, Argentine) 52 abstentions