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Catch our discussion from yesterday here:

🚨 Volume 27 (2024) of the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law – "International Humanitarian Law under Pressure" – is now available!

🔗 Read the volume here: link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

In this piece I argue that the mutual threats in the Iran war are highly unlikely to work since the parties don't trust each other enough to even believe that complying with the threats will actually change the adversary's behavior.

I join Michal Feldon, Ahmed Alfarra, Eyad Amawi, Barry Danino, Feroze Sidhwa, and Ruth Gibson to make the case for reopening the humanitarian corridor from Gaza to the West Bank for medical evacuations in @thelancet.com:

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Read our statement here:

It’s been a privilege to write with @eliavl.bsky.social in this effort to think through the normative underpinnings of IHL on the protection of objects:

Making Sense of International Humanitarian Law's Protection of Objects

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

The final version of my article on forcible reprisals (Yale Journal of Intl Law) is up.

It discusses the theory behind the prohibition, highlights its normative core, and analyzes the Iranian/Israeli discourse on force which is also relevant to the current war.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

@rgoodlaw.bsky.social @tessbridgeman.bsky.social @mikeschmitt.bsky.social @bechamilton.bsky.social @adhaque.bsky.social

@justsecurity.org's Israel-Us-Iran collection has already developed into a mini-syllabus for the war's legal aspects. All of the pieces can be found here, and surely more will come:
www.justsecurity.org/114556/colle...

Double Preemption, Imminence, and the U.S. Attack Against Iran Rubio’s argument that Operation Epic Fury was preemptive self-defense is not credible and does not satisfy the necessary precondition.

The Trump Administration keeps throwing new arguments at the wall to see what might stick--but each one is worse than the last.

This is an excellent piece by @eliavl.bsky.social explaining why Rubio's recent "double preemption" argument is a non-starter.

www.justsecurity.org/133093/preem...

The ICRC’s New Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention ​The ICRC's updated Commentary on GC IV fills a loophole-closing function and reasserts IHL’s core protective purpose.

Prof. @eliavl.bsky.social explains how the @icrc.org Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Convention closes loopholes and reasserts international humanitarian law's core protective function.
Part of our symposium with @ejiltalk.bsky.social & @icrclawpolicy.bsky.social
www.justsecurity.org/131465/closi...

Thanks!!!

All this and more, a plug for my @justsecurity.org colleague @eliavl.bsky.social ‘s excellent book on Occupation in International Law (OUP 2022). Luckily he gave me an extra signed copy in recent weeks so encourage you all to get your own - you will find it useful in the week’s ahead.

International Humanitarian Law: Syllabus Supplements This syllabus supplement offers curated articles intended to be combined with traditional casebooks in a law or higher ed classroom.

Teaching a legal course this semester where recent armed conflict events are relevant, or know someone who is?

The IHL Syllabus Supplement connects educators with salient law and policy discussions.

Curated from JS archives by @bechamilton.bsky.social and Danae Askar.

My recommendations involve Yale Law School, Ali Khamenei, and Numenor

Seems pertinent

"the combat decisions he has made"

Hegseth is setting up Admiral Bradley to take the blame for killing the survivors--which is just the tip of an immense iceberg of illegal acts.

U.S. military officials beware: Following orders is not a defense to murder or war crimes.

After you help your boss convert a doc to PDF

Thanks so much. This has been an incredible honor.

Thanks!

Just uploaded an updated version of my forthcoming chapter for The Cambridge History of IL, discussing IHL in the post-Cold War era.

The new version updates some issues and revisits the general framing of the period, which is profoundly different from today.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

4 pm Fri 14 November 2025 - Join us for the Award Ceremony for the Max Planck-Cambridge Prize for International Law (MaxCamPIL) 2025 which will be presented to Prof Eliav Lieblich. Further info: https://buff.ly/zOlUq7H

4 pm Fri 14 November 2025 - Join us next week for the Award Ceremony for the Max Planck-Cambridge Prize for International Law (MaxCamPIL) 2025 which will be presented to Prof Eliav Lieblich. Further info: buff.ly/cr5MraV

I wrote an analysis of the US draft Security Council on Gaza. In short: it's rife with problems that must be resolved.

My analysis of some key issues in yesterday's ICJ Advisory Opinion is now online.

I discuss the general context of the Opinion; central aspects in its findings on humanitarian duties; and the different approaches towards the duty to cooperate wrh the UN, as advanced by different judges.

One thing I can say about the ICJ opinion from yesterday: it cuts through the BS.
Some muddled reasoning about the duty to cooperate because some judges disagreed on its scope.
Also, an important declaration by Judge Cleveland.
I hope to publish an analysis (very) soon.

2/ On a personal note, thrilled to see that our book, Occupation in International Law (with Eyal Benvenisti, OUP 2022), is mentioned as recommended bibliography in several areas :)

Link to the book:

academic.oup.com/oxford-law-p...

1/ In case anybody missed it, the ICRC just published the new Commentary on the Fourth Geneva Conventions:

ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treat...

This is an impressive project will surely dominate discussions in the field of protection of civilians under IHL for years to come.

So ... this is taking place next month at Cambridge.

Receiving this prize is an incredible honor for me, and I'll be thrilled to meet in Cambridge those of you who are around and interested in attending!

www.lcil.cam.ac.uk/max-planck-c...

www.lcil.cam.ac.uk/press/events...