2 No. 75 JUSTICE am writing these lines immediately after the Simchat Torah holiday in the year 5786 according to the Hebrew calendar. This very same day, corresponding to October 7, 2023 in the Gregorian calendar, marked the beginning of the most serious event that has befallen the Jewish People since the Holocaust — the mass murder of Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, as well as foreign workers; rape, sexual abuse, injury, and mass kidnapping of both the living and the dead, by the Hamas terror organization. Yesterday and today have been days of joy and exultation, with the release of the 20 hostages who survived Hamas captivity and the beginning of the release of the bodies kidnapped by Hamas. At the same time, a ceasefire has come into effect, and we have the beginnings of the post-war arrangements for Gaza, as set out in President Donald Trump’s Plan. President Trump deserves high praise both for his steadfast support of the State of Israel since his election, as well as for his uncompromising stance against antisemitism in the United States of America, in all its manifestations. The Swords of Iron War (which the Government intends to rename as the War of Revival) was a war waged against Hamas in Gaza. It was a cruel war. Hamas is not only a ruthless terror organization, it is also the organization that controls Gaza. Throughout the war, Hamas systematically used its civilian population as a human shield and a strategic weapon in its war against the State of Israel. The civilian population in Gaza actively supported Hamas. Tens of thousands of its combatants went out to fight as members of Hamas’s ranks. The entire Gaza Strip, including hospitals, mosques, homes, and an extensive tunnel network underneath the entire area was, in effect, a Hamas military compound. Hamas had no consideration even for the lives of its own civilian population, deliberately endangering them to gain maximum advantage in the court of worldwide public opinion from the many casualties that it suffered. The War brought devastating consequences for the Palestinian people in terms of civilian casualties, both dead and wounded, and the mass destruction of buildings and infrastructure. At the same time it also dealt a serious blow to the legitimacy of the State of Israel’s use of military power in a civilian setting, and caused serious harm to Israel’s international standing, in light of serious allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law by the State of Israel. We hope that the War has indeed come to an end, and that the communities of the “Gaza envelope” will be able to live in peace and security. We also hope that Gaza can be rebuilt, and that this process will be accompanied by the rehabilitation of the standing and legitimacy of Israel around the world. In parallel to the military front, where Israel clearly had supremacy, the War also extended into the political and legal arenas. Even though the “cards were marked,” and the results were known in advance in the political and legal arenas, it is important not to abandon these fronts. It was expected that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) would ratify the finding that Judea and Samaria are Occupied Territory, and that the Israeli presence there is an ongoing and illegal occupation, with all the ensuing consequences. It was also expected that the United Nations would confirm these determinations. Nevertheless, the IJL considers it important that a balanced position be presented, as to both fact and law, regarding the legal status of Judea and Samaria, and President’s Message I Meir Linzen Photo: Idan Gross
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