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Current Issues of International Law - HOPV0226

Title:	Current Issues of International Law
Guaranteed by:	Department of Public International Law (22-KMP)
Faculty:	Faculty of Law
Actual:	from 2025
Semester:	both
Points:	0
E-Credits:	4
Examination process:	written
Hours per week, examination:	20/0, Ex [HS]
4EU+:	no
Virtual mobility / capacity:	no
Key competences:
State of the course:	taught
Language:	English
Teaching methods:	full-time
Level:
Note:	course can be enrolled in outside the study plan enabled for web enrollment you can enroll for the course in winter and in summer semester

Guarantor:	prof. JUDr. PhDr. Veronika Bílková, Ph.D., E.MA.
Teacher(s):	prof. JUDr. PhDr. Veronika Bílková, Ph.D., E.MA.
Incompatibility :	HOPV0225, HP0681
Is incompatible with:	HOPV0225

WS schedule Noticeboard

Annotation - Czech

The course consists of lectures by an external expert and focuses on current issues from a certain area of international law. The lectures are carried out in the form of block teaching. Details about the content of the course and about the lecturer will always be specified before the respective semester.

Winter Term 2025-2026
In the winter term of the academic year 2025-2025, the course will be taught by dr. Michal Saliternik from the Netanya Academic College School of Law (Israel). The topic is: Israel and the Law of War in the Shadow of a Protracted Conflict

Course Description
The military conflict between Israel and its neighbors is among the most complex and enduring in modern history. It involves a unique combination of conventional and asymmetric warfare, set against the backdrop of contested borders, prolonged occupation, religious and ethnic tensions, and shifting regional and global alliances. These dynamics have given rise to a range of international legal challenges and controversies that have gained increasing prominence in international fora. In this course we will examine the international legal frameworks—including international humanitarian law, the prohibition on the use of force, international human rights law, and international criminal law—applicable to the protracted conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, and other regional actors. We will focus on legal questions arising from the conduct of hostilities since the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, while providing the relevant historical and political context. We will also discuss recent judicial proceedings involving Israel at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, as well as Israel’s responses to these processes and their broader implications. Finally, we will consider possible avenues for resolving the conflict(s) between Israel and its neighbors, and assess the role of international law and institutions in promoting such resolutions and supporting post-conflict transition.

Course Objectives
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
• Understand the international legal norms governing the military conflict between Israel and its neighbors.
• Analyze the international legal challenges and controversies arising from the Israeli-Palestinian, Israeli-Arab, and Israeli-Iranian conflicts.
• Evaluate potential legal solutions to these conflicts and assess their relative advantages and risks.

Last update: Šicnerová Barbora, Mgr. (20.08.2025)

Requirements to the exam - Czech

1. Minimum 70% attendance at lectures

2. Take-home exam – 75%

3. Case Analysis presentations in small group tutorials – 25%

Each student will submit a 500 words paper and prepare a short oral presentation analyzing a different aspect of a case study assigned to its group, namely:

o Group 1: ICJ Advisory Opinion

o Group 2: ICJ Contentious Case

o Group 3: ICC Proceedings

Last update: Šicnerová Barbora, Mgr. (20.08.2025)

Syllabus - Czech

Syllabus / Reading Materials

Part I - Israel’s Military Conflicts: Historical and Political Overview

Class 1: From the 1948 War of Independence through the 1967 Six-Day War to the 1995 Oslo Accords.

· Paul Scham, “Competing Israeli and Palestinian Narratives”, in The Routledge Handbook on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Joel Peters & David Newman eds., 2012), pp. 33-44.

· Laura Zittrain Eisenberg, “The Israeli–Palestinian Peace Process, 1967–1993”, in The Routledge Handbook on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Joel Peters & David Newman eds., 2012), pp. 81-91.

Class 2: From the Oslo Accords through the 2005 Disengagement Plan to the 2023 Israel-Hamas War.

· Ahron Bregman, Israel’s Wars: A History Since 1947 (4^th edition, 2016), pp. 309-330.

· Keren Sharvit, “Sociopsychological Foundations of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Applying Daniel Bar-Tal’s Theorizing”, in A Social-Psychology Perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Celebrating the Legacy of Daniel Bar-Tal (Keren Sharvit & Eran Halperin eds., Vol. 2, 2016), pp. 1-14.

Part II - Applicable International Law: Fundamental Challenges and Controversies

Class 3: The Prohibition on the Use of Force and the Self-Defense Exception: Who Struck First?

· Erika de Wet, “The Invocation of the Right to Self-Defence in Response to Armed Attacks Conducted by Armed Groups: Implications for Attribution”, Leiden Journal of International Law, vol. 32 (2019), pp. 91-110.

· Charles J. Dunlap, “Anticipatory Self-Defense and the Israeli-Iranian Crisis”, 19 ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law, vol. 19 (2013), pp. 319-334.

Class 4: Between Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello: The Legal Status of the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.

· ICJ Advisory Opinion, Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (9 July 2004), paras. 70-78.

· ICJ Advisory Opinion, Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem (19 July 2024), paras. 157-179.

· Eyal Benvenisti, The International Law of Occupation (3rd ed., 2012), pp. 259-267.

· Aeyal Gross, The Writing on The Wall: Rethinking the International Law of Occupation (2017), pp. 141-151.

Classes 5&6: Israeli Military Administration of the Palestinian Territories

· ICJ Advisory Opinion, Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem (19 July 2024), paras. 11-156.

· ICJ Advisory Opinion, Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem (19 July 2024), paras. 86-113.

· Eyal Benvenisti & Eliav Lieblich, Occupation in International Law (2023), pp 81-107

· Lain Scobbie, “Natural Resources and Belligerent Occupation: Perspectives from International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law”, in International Law and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Rights-Based Approach to Middle East Peace (Susan M. Akram et al eds., 2011), pp. 229-252.

Class 7: Israeli Supreme Court Jurisprudence Concerning Israel’s Military Conflicts

· David Kretzmer, “The law of belligerent occupation in the Supreme Court of Israel”, International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 94 (2012), pp. 207-236.

· Cr.A. 7048/97, Anonymous v. Minister of Defense (12 April 2000).

· H.C.J 413/13, Abu Aram v. Minister of Defense (4 May 2022).

Part III - The Conduct of Hostilities since October 2023: Intensified Legal Quandaries

Class 8: The 7 October Massacre and Kidnappings: The Challenge of Holding Hamas Accountable under a State-Centered International Legal System.

· Human Rights Watch, “I Can’t Erase All the Blood from My Mind”: Palestinian Armed Groups’ October 7 Assault on Israel (July 2024).

· ICC Press Release, Situation in the State of Palestine: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I issues warrant of arrest for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (Deif) (21 Nov. 2024).

Class 9&10: The Israeli Invasion of Gaza and the Protection of Civilians in Asymmetric Warfare.

· ICC Press Release, Situation in the State of Palestine: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejects the State of Israel’s challenges to jurisdiction and issues warrants of arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant (21 Nov. 2024)

· ICC Pre-Trial Chamber, Situation in the State of Palestine: Decision on Israel’s challenge to the jurisdiction of the Court pursuant to article 19(2) of the Rome Statute (21 Nov. 2024)

· ICC Pre-Trial Chamber, Situation in the State of Palestine: Decision on Israel’s request for an order to the Prosecution to give an Article 18(1) notice (21 Nov. 2024).

· ICJ Order, Provisional Measures, Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (south Africa v. Israel) (26 January 2024)

Class 11: The Gaza War Beyond Gaza: Missile Attacks and Transnational Hostilities involving Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.

· Marco Milanovic & Michael Schmitt, “Israel’s Use of Force Against Syria and the Right of Self-Defense”, EJIL:Talk! (12 December 2024).

· Masoud Zamani and Amirabbas Kiani, “Location, Location, Location: Targeting Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Questions of Extraterritoriality in Non-International Armed Conflicts” EJIL:Talk! (1 October 2024).

Part IV – Toward Conflict Resolution

Class 12: The Options on the Table: Legality and Prospects

· George Bisharat, “Maximizing Rights: The One State Solution to the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict”, in International Law and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Rights-Based Approach to Middle East Peace (Susan M. Akram et al eds., 2011), pp. 297-328.

· Martin Indyk, “The Strange Resurrection of the Two-State Solution: How an Unimaginable War Could bring About the Only Imaginable Peace”, Foreign Affairs, vol. 103 (2024), pp. 8-20.

Last update: Šicnerová Barbora, Mgr. (20.08.2025)

Learning resources - Czech