Erosion of International Humanitarian Law vs Civilians in Gaza

The Undergraduate Study Program in Law, Faculty of Law, UII (Universitas Islam Indonesia) again invites Fatma Al Ghussain, as Executive Director in Amna Care Fund Palestine Activists as a speaker on the Guest Lecture agenda which will be held on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. Guest Lecture which started at 15.30 and took place in the Legislative Drafting Room, 3rd floor, Faculty of Law UII, the theme raised on this occasion was “Legal Violations and the Extent of Application of International Humanitarian Law to Protect Civilians in Gaza”. This Guest Lecture activity is an effort to always remind us of the existence of humanitarian principles, as support for human rights, as well as solidarity as a developing country and also as a form of implementation of religious values. In International Humanitarian Law there are rules that regulate behavior that takes place in armed conflicts. The purpose of this law is to limit human suffering during war and establish limits on how to fight, and also provide protection to citizens or parties who do not take part in hostilities.

In her explanation, Mrs. Fatma Al Ghussain stated that “The attacks carried out by the Israeli army have killed more than 60,000 civilians, including children and women, mercilessly and indiscriminately using internationally prohibited weapons. They also bombed schools and tents filled with sheltering civilians, and killed everyone inside. Not only that, the Israeli army also blocked humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, including water, food, medicine and other basic necessities. They even excavate the graves of people who have died by taking their bodies and returning them without any internal organs. The atrocities carried out were not only carried out against the Palestinian population, but also by suppressing the press by killing anyone who reported what was happening in Gaza, either through sound or images. As well as threatening social media activists, by bombing their houses and killing their families. There is continuous oppression carried out by the Israeli army by killing humanitarian workers, local and international residents, they also force civilians to repeatedly move to new areas without allowing civilians to take their personal belongings with them. This of course illustrates the irrelevance of international humanitarian law in dealing with the genocide that is taking place in Palestine to date and shows that there is a failure of the global justice system in preventing war crimes.”

This Guest Lecture with resource person Mrs. Fatma Al Ghussain was moderated directly by the Head of Undergraduate Study Program in Law, Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto, S.H., M.H., LL.M., Ph.D., and attended by more than 70 students of Undergraduate Study Program in Law, Faculty of Law UII. Before the Guest Lecture activity was closed by the moderator, there was a video screening session that had been prepared by Mrs. Fatma and continued with a question and answer session from several students present. It is hoped that this activity will make each other aware and be a form of support for Palestine, not only as a moral obligation, but also as an investment in the future of a more peaceful and just world.