War | ANZSIL Perspective

The ICC Arrest Warrants for the Leaders of Israel and Hamas – Current Status and Key Points from Israel’s Challenges

by Jack Holmes | 19 Dec 2024

Issuance of arrest warrants On 21 November 2024, after six months of deliberations, the International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber 1 (‘PTC’) unanimously issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant. The warrants were issued under article 58 of the Rome Statute, following the Court’s opening of its criminal investigation into the Situation in the State of Palestine on 3 March 2021. The ICC Prosecutor also sought arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders. The applications named the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh; both of whom have been killed in...

Australia, New Zealand, and Operation Poseidon Archer: Some International Law Questions

by Ashley (Ash) Stanley Ryan | 11 Apr 2024

On 12 January 2024, the United States and its coalition partners launched a series of strikes against Houthi (Ansarallah) positions in Yemen, as part of “Operation Poseidon Archer”. Those strikes were justified as acts of individual and collective self-defence, in response to attacks by Ansarallah against civilian and naval vessels in the Red Sea. Australia provided support for these strikes; on 24 January 2024, New Zealand announced that it, too, would provide support for future strikes against Ansarallah. In this piece, I analyse whether New Zealand and Australia have become parties to a non-international armed conflict (NIAC); the legal basis underlying the use of force; and what the...

The Shifting Protections of War Correspondents under International Law – the example of Israel and the Palestinian Territories and South-East Europe

by Simon Levett | 11 Sep 2022

Journalists are continually subject to harm or the threat of harm during their reporting in foreign wars. The US based Committee to Protect Journalists states that at least 24 journalists have been murdered in 2022 so far globally. The surge in armed groups such as Islamic State and Al Qaeda after September 11, 2001, have also led to the increased targeting of war correspondents with corresponding unsafe conditions. Journalist for the Wall Street Journal Daniel Pearl was beheaded whilst reporting on the deteriorating situation in Pakistan in 2002. Many media staff have also been deliberately targeted. According to a 2022 report by the United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural...