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Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Ground operation in Gaza legally possible — expert

Professor of international law at Basel University Andreas Mueller noted that an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip is possible but there must follow "a measure of proportionality"

GENEVA, October 19. /TASS/. Israel carrying out a ground operation in the Gaza Strip is legally permissible under international law but it should be restricted to preventing a possible attack by Hamas, Andreas Mueller, a professor of international law at Basel University, said.

According to his assessment, Israel’s ground operation aiming to eliminate the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas is "quite permissible" from the legal point of view. In an interview with the Swiss SRF TV channel, the expert explained that, according to the UN Charter, the Jewish state has the right to self-defense. However, it can exercise this right "only during the course of an attack or if there is a substantial risk of it being repeated," Mueller added.

The expert noted that an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip is possible but there must follow "a measure of proportionality." "However, this gives Israel substantial latitude," he added.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel has declared a state of war readiness; announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians; and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.

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Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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