The International Bar Association (IBA) has strongly condemned what it has described as “the heinous attacks” on Israel by the militant group Hamas.

“These indiscriminate and targeted atrocities against Israeli citizens contravene an unequivocal, non-derogable prohibition under international law,” the president of the international lawyers’ group’s said in a statement.

“The murder of civilians, the assaults, and the trespass into private homes to kill and maim are all internationally recognised crimes of profound gravity; the abductions and taking of hostages – including women, children and the elderly – are crimes in violation of human rights and humanitarian law,” Almudena Arpón de Mendívil Aldama (pictured) continued.

Self-defence

The IBA president said that Israel had “an inherent right” to self-defence from the attacks.

She added, however, that in doing so it must also ensure that civilian populations were shielded from harm, and that military actions were conducted with “a clear commitment to the international legal principles of distinction and proportionality”.

Arpón de Mendívil urged all international institutions and governments to use their best diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages, to prevent the escalation of violence in the region, and to return to the peace tables so that a just solution could be achieved between Israel and Palestine.