Gaza: Israel
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the number of airstrikes carried out by Israel in Gaza between October 2023 and September 2024, (b) the number of those his Department has examined for potential breaches of international law and (c) the number of those examined that were assessed as potentially involving violations of international law.
Answered by Mr Hamish Falconer
Our International Humanitarian Law (IHL) assessments, which assess Israel's compliance and commitment to IHL in the conflict in Gaza, use data on verified incidents, including but not limited to airstrikes, provided by a third-party specialising in geolocation. We do not track every single incident or airstrike as part of this process.
While the assessments have raised concerns about possible breaches of IHL in the areas of humanitarian access, the treatment of detainees, and forced displacement, we have not been able to reach a determination in relation to the conduct of hostilities due to the lack of sufficient, verifiable evidence. To determine a possible breach in this area requires access to sensitive specific information related to individual incidents, such as the intended targets, anticipated military advantage and anticipated civilian harm, which is often not available to us.
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