What does the law say?

Under international humanitarian law, those involved in the transport and distribution of relief supplies must be respected and protected during armed conflict. They are to be treated as civilians so long as they do not directly take part in hostilities.

Bringing aid to the civilians of Gaza does not amount to “direct participation in hostilities”. In fact, the International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to allow aid into Gaza given their obligations under the Genocide Convention.

International humanitarian law also says civilians may not be detained arbitrarily in conflict zones. If civilians are detained, however, they have certain rights under international law. They must:

• be informed of the reasons for their detention

• be able to challenge the detention decision

• receive adequate food, hygiene and medical care

• be given access to lawyers and consular representatives, in addition to contact with their families, and

• be held in conditions consistent with health and humanity.

Check article for full details.

The Israeli regime has been violating international humanitarian law in its treatment of Palestinian people for years and only now we are doing a song-and-dance because it's affected Westerners (and they've only experienced a tiny fraction of the vicious behaviour Palestinians have to endure year after year). Will our governments have the moral decency to stand up for the Palestinian people?