We recently joined over 300 lawyers and legal scholars in signing an open letter urging the Canadian government to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in line with international law. The ongoing refusal to do so is an utter failure to understand the humanity of the moment.
What is unfolding in Gaza and Israel is precisely what international humanitarian and human rights legal standards—when implemented—are meant to avoid: human beings inflicting egregious and unspeakable harms on other human beings. Calling only for humanitarian pauses is a colossal misunderstanding of what’s happening and what’s at stake. Since sending our letter, the unimaginable continues to unfold: Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed over 11,000 people, more than 4,000 of whom are infants and children. Entire family lines have been extinguished. Half a million more people are facing death by starvation and dehydration due to Israel’s tactic