Israel Has Right to Defend Itself From Hamas: 500 Lawyers

Smoke in the Gaza Strip as seen from Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, on Oct. 18, 2023. Amir Cohen/Reuters

More than 500 lawyers have written to the Australian prime minister and other senior ministers articulating how Israel has a right to defend itself under international law.

The letter expressed compassion for the heartbreaking images out of Gaza but noted this does not itself render Israel’s actions illegal.

In addition, the lawyers dispute claims made by another group of lawyers in early November calling for the Australian government to exert its influence to “secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank.”

“Israel has a right under international law to defend herself against the threat posed by Hamas, including by taking such military action as is necessary to ensure that Hamas is unable to repeat the atrocities it committed on Oct. 7, 2023,” the latest letter dated Dec. 3 states.

“The undoubted suffering that this necessarily causes in Gaza (which Hamas no doubt anticipated when it planned and launched the Oct. 7, 2023, operation) does not itself render Israel’s actions illegal.”

The group raised concerns about “misguided calls” for a permanent ceasefire and arms embargo and raised the need to free hostages.

“Israel is reluctant to agree to a permanent ceasefire because any ceasefire would enable Hamas to survive and rebuild which will inevitably result in renewed attacks on Israeli civilians. That much is clear,” the group said.

“Were action taken to remove rocket and missile launching capability from Hamas, and to prevent any rearming, a ceasefire could operate to protect civilians in Israel as well as in Gaza.”

The letter said that Israel is risking another terrorist attack by Hamas under the recently agreed short-term ceasefire, while noting it was a start in addressing the release of the hostages.

“Israel has the right, indeed the obligation, to protect her population from terrorist attacks committed by the various terrorist groups that surround its borders, which include Hamas,” the letter said.

In addition, it called on the Australian government to “continue to do all within its powers to pressure Hamas to free all the hostages forcibly taken on Oct. 7, 2023.”

The lawyers ask that the Australian government acts with “diplomatic restraint and caution” on the conduct of “its ally, and only democracy in the Middle East, Israel” as it aims to erase the threat of Hamas from its border.

Further, it requests that the government “make no demands of such ally that we would not ourselves fulfil if it was our citizens who were murdered, raped, beheaded, dismembered or taken hostage." 

“We mourn the loss of every innocent life in this and any conflict. We pray and hope that the death and violence end soon, that families torn apart by the atrocities of Oct. 7 and the war that followed are speedily reunited, and that a lasting peace ensues,” the letter says.

The legal practitioners and legal academics addressed the letter, which has 632 signatures at the time of writing, to the Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Defence, and Attorney General on Dec. 3.

Separate Letter Called for Gaza Ceasefire

On Nov. 8, an open letter signed by more than 1,000 Australian lawyers claimed the “well-accepted limits of international law, human rights law, and the law of armed conflict” had been exceeded in Palestine/Israel.

The letter called on the Australian government to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and advocated for an end to the “occupation of Palestine” and defence exports to Israel.

Israeli security forces stand next to ambulances on stand by outside the helipad of Tel Aviv's Schneider medical center on Nov. 24, 2023, amid preparations for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners later in the day. Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images

“We call on the Australian Government to uphold international law by exerting its influence to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank, and to ensure urgently the adequate provision of food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and the unconditional restoration of water and electricity,” the letter stated.

The lawyers also asked the federal government to act “urgently to ensure that international law is complied with and fundamental human rights are protected” and advocate for an “end to the occupation of Palestine and a just peace for all people in the region based on equal rights.”

This letter also asked for the government to confirm what military-specific goods have been provided to Israel and if these goods are being used in accordance with international law.

“The death, trauma, and other harm visited on individuals, families and whole communities in the last month has been devastating. The well-accepted limits of international law, human rights law, and the law of armed conflict have been exceeded,” the letter claimed.

“We the undersigned, legal practitioners and legal academics, in Australia, dedicated to upholding the rule of law both domestically and internationally, call on the Australian government to act without delay to fulfil its international legal obligations in relation to the ever-escalating and horrific conflict in the Middle East.”