by Travis Normand
November 7, 2023

This is a summary of (some) the substance found in two other articles, one of which I have posted/shared previously. You can find both of these articles, in their entirety, posted here:

• (1) “Israel – Hamas 2023 Symposium – Strategy and Self-Defence: Israel and its war withI Iran,“ by Ken Watkin, posted on October 18, 2023; at the Articles of War / Lieber Institute at West Point, found here: https://lieber.westpoint.edu/strategy-self-defence-israel-its-war-with-iran/
• (2) “Israel – Hamas 2023 Symposium – The Legal. Context of Operations Al-Aqsa Flood and Swords of Iron,” by Michael Schmitt, posted on October 10, 2023; at the Articles of War / Lieber Institute at West Point, found here: https://lieber.westpoint.edu/legal-context-operations-al-aqsa-flood-swords-of-iron/

The article by Ken Watkin dives into a lot of interesting topics (including whether this conflict could be classified as an IAC; depending on the degree of support, if any, Iran is providing to Hamas); but my point here in this post is to examine the question of whether the current conflict between Israel and Hamas is a NIAC or IAC. I am doing so by summarizing what is in the two articles posted above.

Continue reading →