A group of leading academics, legal experts and human rights advocates have called for the creation of a UN-mandated international military force to stop Israel’s 22-month-long genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip, reports the Middle East Eye.
In a statement on Monday, Richard Falk, the president of the Gaza Tribunal Project and a former UN special rapporteur, called on the international community to implement the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle.
“Law has failed, because it has not been enforced,” Falk said at a press conference in Istanbul as he urged the international community to use R2P as a framework for intervention. He noted that the lack of enforcement had left Palestinians unprotected despite clear evidence of mass atrocities.
R2P is an international legal principle designed to prevent atrocities like genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. It emerged in the 1990s following global inaction during the genocides in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
Adopted unanimously by world leaders at the 2005 UN World Summit, R2P is enshrined in paragraphs 138 and 139 of the Summit Outcome Document. It has been invoked in over 95 UN Security Council resolutions.
These resolutions have addressed numerous crises, including conflicts in the Central African Republic, Libya, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Its most clear use was in Libya in 2011 to oust long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi following the Arab Spring uprisings.
In its statement, the Tribunal specifically called on the UN General Assembly to invoke the Uniting for Peace Resolution (377(V)) to authorise a multinational armed protection force for Gaza.
This force, the statement said, should remain in Gaza until Israel withdraws, the blockade is lifted, humanitarian aid flows freely and Palestinians are guaranteed internationally supervised elections.
The resolution, adopted in 1950, allows the UN General Assembly to take action when the Security Council is deadlocked, especially due to a veto by a permanent member.
It empowers the Assembly to hold emergency special sessions and recommend collective measures, including economic sanctions and the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.
Though not legally binding, it has been used in major crises like the Suez Crisis and the Ukraine conflict to bypass Security Council paralysis.
Speaking at the press conference, Falk said that it was welcoming to see some of Israel’s main partners, essentially European countries, announce plans to recognise Palestinian statehood, but he said it was distressing that they were reluctant to take substantial measures against Israel, such as imposing sanctions.
