Legal Military Action

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Relevant Major Principles of International Law - (1) Acquisition of Territory by Military Conquest is Illegal, and gaining sovereignty via military occupation is illegal. The only legal reason for a military action or occupation is self-defense, and it is generally thought that legal occupations would be only short-term because they would only be for the purpose of self-defense:

RELEVANT PRINCIPLE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

One of the basic principles of international law is that military action that leads to acquisition of territory or gaining of sovereignty is illegal.

Only if military action is in self-defense, then it is considered legal, because, for one thing, it is obviously fighting off an illegal aggressive military action.

An important expression of this basic principle can be found in the Declaration On Principles Of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations And Co-Operation Among States In Accordance With The Charter Of The United Nations (1970), which lists examples of illegal motivations for military action (for example to settle disagreements or for revenge). Then in the UN Charter it says that countries do have the right to defend themselves.

Then the principle that acquisition of land by force or gaining of sovereignty by occupation are illegal are found verified in the Hague Regulations of 1907, the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and finally the Geneva Convention Protocols I of 1977.

And it is generally accepted that military occupations which are only for the purpose of self-defense will be temporary, because they are only implemented for the sake of securing peace and security, and thus will come to an end once that has been achieved. But it is the prolonged nature of the Israeli occupation of Palestine that Israelis claim calls for a reinterpretation of numbers of international laws and legal principles.

RELEVANT LAWS & RESPONSES

As per International Law -
- UN Charter, article 2, para. 4 (1945) (full text) (specific article - see below)
- Declaration On Principles Of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations And Co-Operation Among States In Accordance With The Charter Of The United Nations (1970), Principle 1 (full text) (specific article - see below)
- Hague Regulations IV (1907), articles 43 & 55 (full text) (specific articles - see below)
- Geneva Conventions IV (1949), article 47 & 54 (full text) (specific articles - see below)
Israeli Violations -
- 1. Israeli illegal acquisition of land by force in 1948, and illegal annexation of land occuppied in 1967 (more details).
- 2. Israeli occupation appears to be illegal because it is not purely self-defensive (more details).
International Response -
- United Nations -
- International Miscellaneous response -
- Academic Analysis -

RELEVANT QUOTES FROM TEXT

UN Charter (1945), article 2, para. 4:

Article 2. The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.

Paragraph 4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

Declaration On Principles Of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations And Co-Operation Among States In Accordance With The Charter Of The United Nations (1970), Principle 1:

PRINCIPLE I: The principle that States shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.

Hague Regulations IV (1907), articles 43 & 55:

Article 43. The authority of the legitimate power having in fact passed into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all the measures in his power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country.

Article 55. The occupying State shall be regarded only as administrator and usufructuary of public buildings, real estate, forests, and agricultural estates belonging to the hostile State, and situated in the occupied country. It must safeguard the capital of these properties, and administer them in accordance with the rules of usufruct.

Geneva Conventions IV (1949), article 54:

Article 47. Protected persons who are in occupied territory shall not be deprived, in any case or in any manner whatsoever, of the benefits of the present Convention by any change introduced, as the result of the occupation of a territory, into the institutions or government of the said territory, nor by any agreement concluded between the authorities of the occupied territories and the Occupying Power, nor by any annexation by the latter of the whole or part of the occupied territory.

Article 54. The Occupying Power may not alter the status of public officials or judges in the occupied territories, or in any way apply sanctions to or take any measures of coercion or discrimination against them, should they abstain from fulfilling their functions for reasons of conscience.

REFERENCES

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