KIU Interdisciplinary Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The politics in enforcement of international law: Israel-Gaza in perspective

KIJHUS ID: kj0008ca51cd May 22, 2025

The politics in enforcement of international law: Israel-Gaza in perspective

Godswill Owoche Antai
Published May 22, 2025 Pages 347-376

Article Abstract

The enforcement of law is politicized where legal compliance or non-enforcement is determined by political interests. The same is no exception where there is politicization of legal norms on war crimes, humanitarian law, and human rights within the context of the Israel-Gaza conflict. The politicization of enforcing law is explored within this context where there is focus on global actors' role in establishing compliance and responsibility. The research identifies selective compliance, where, great power influences legal norms' applicability, undermining institutions of law's credibility. The aim of this research is to establish how much political interests control enforcing law within the conflict, establish how effective legal actions have been within resolving abuses, and discuss possible reform measures that ensure neutral applicability of law. Adopting doctrinal research, this research is founded on legal sources of facts including treatises, UN resolutions, and literature on law where there is exploration of how law is enforced through critical literature on law where law is analyzed by scrutinizing sources of facts of law. The findings establish that there is unequal legal compliance where geopolitical blocs control investigations, prosecutions, and penalties. The recommendation is that there is need to strengthen legal institutions of law of the international by decoupling institutions of law from politicization by enhancing regional adjudicatory institutions. Contributing to knowledge, this research contributes to complex vision of how law is entwined within politics within global relations where there is need to reform institutions of law to ensure its impartiality.

Indexed Terms

International Law Human Rights Humanitarian Law Politics
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How to Cite this Article

Godswill Owoche Antai. "The politics in enforcement of international law: Israel-Gaza in perspective." KIU Interdisciplinary Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences , vol. 6 , no. 1 , 2025 , pp. 347-376

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Author Profiles

Godswill Owoche Antai
Lecturer and Head of Department, Post-Graduate and Diploma, Kampala International University, Kampala, Uganda Uganda