Israeli forces and Hezbollah Operatives caught the Attention of the World

The second Lebanon war of 2006 between Israeli forces and Hezbollah operatives caught the attention of the world. The war came at a time when the world clamored for peace and togetherness. The war brought into focus various issues ranging from humanitarian issues and the international justice. The war elaborated how countries went against the codes that govern international law. The UN Security Council cited various legal breaches that had been committed as a result of the war. The war pushed governments and other international bodies worldwide to revise their current laws on international justice. The war served as a good example of the importance of international peace and law. The war was perceived to have violated basic humanitarian ethics that every nation was obliged to show.

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Genesis of second Lebanon war of 2006

The second Lebanon war was started as a result of increased attacks by the terrorist outfit- Hezbollah. Hezbollah was reportedly pointed as the first catalyst of the war. The Hezbollah terrorist organization crossed the Israeli blue border line, entered Israel and managed to kidnap three Israeli soldiers. The Hezbollah terrorist organization crossed Israelis internationally recognized northern border.

The aggressive attacking motives of the Hezbollah terrorist organization triggered what was to become one of the bloodiest wars in the recent past. Israel subsequently retaliated against the attacks staged by Hezbollah. Reports indicate that Hezbollah decided to attack Israel as a revenge tactic for a number of Arab captives who had been captured by the Israeli army. The Hezbollah terrorist organization was formed with the sole objective of eliminating the Israeli (Gildron & Bar, 24). The terrorist organization is operated in line with core Islamic principles. The terrorist organization has been held responsible for various attacks on Israel territory.

Legal perspectives of the second Lebanon war of 2006

The second Lebanon war brought various issues that highlighted widespread violation of international law. The war was a contravention of basic humanitarian laws as established by the United Nations humanitarian laws. The United Nations laws stipulate that every country should uphold humanitarian codes in its activities. The war between Israel and the Hezbollah was a clear indication of gross violation of humanitarian laws. The war led to the loss of lives and high number of casualties. The war violated international relations ethics which countries are expected to uphold.

The second Lebanon war violated the law of human existence as stipulated in the United Nations charter. The war as some foreign relations experts agree violated the rules of human existence. The war brought untold misery, and suffering, to the civilians of both countries. The war brought a disturbance to the peace that had existed between the citizens of both countries. The war brought an imbalance to the human existence dynamics. The war was considered to have destabilized the delicate factor of human coexistence. The war violated the above mentioned humanitarian law in the sense that it brought human conflicts whose consequences would be worse than earlier anticipated.

The second Lebanon war violated international rules that serve to protect the interests of children. The international code of ethics on children was violated because the war led to the death and displacement of children in both countries. The war was characterized with various scenarios in which children were victims. The Hezbollah attack of Israel in which two rocket propelled grenades were launched attests to this. The media reported that the Hezbollah attack killed two children who were playing and wounding several others. These unfortunate occurrences on innocent children, led to worldwide condemnations of the barbaric and uncouth acts perpetrated against children. These events led to protests and criticisms from human rights groups and other civil societies networks.

The war led to the displacement of people who had to vacate to safer territories. The second Lebanon war was reported to have led to destruction of property in both countries. Reports indicated that many houses and sheltering structures had been destroyed by the grenade attacks. The war violated the basic human right of right to housing. The war was responsible for thousands of women and children who were displaced courtesy of the war. The war led to worsening humanitarian conditions. Various news reports indicates how women and children were forced to seek refuge in makeshift tents. The poor hygienic conditions in these makeshift tents provided breeding ground for emanation of more diseases. The Red Cross In its annual report indicated that the condition that resulted due to the second Lebanon war was among the worst humanitarian condition ever witnessed in the recent past.

The second Lebanon war led to violation of basic human rights access to food and water. The United Nations in its annual reporte noted that the second Lebanon war topped the list when it came to violation of international laws with respect to causing shortage of food and water, a basic human necessity. The war led to wide spread shortage of food and water to the affected residents in both countries. The war was reported to have interfered with the supply of food and water. The governments of both countries were heavily criticized for their slow response to the humanitarian efforts that was desperately needed by the casualties of war.

The second Lebanon war was reported to have violated various laws relating to human health and sanitation. The United Nations offered strong statements in regard to this issue. The United Nations criticized the two countries for their contribution towards deteriorating human health conditions. The war was reported to have led to emergence of multiple diseases which had a disastrous effect on the health of civilians. One report by a human rights watch dog indicates how chemicals emanating from the war affected the health of civilians. Some civilians were reported to have developed strange chronic and respiratory problems as a result of the chemicals from the war activities.

The second Lebanon war violated the code of sovereignty of a country. The international law clearly stipulates that each country has the sovereignty that defines the countries existence. The second Lebanon war went against this code because the two countries engaged in unorthodox peace resolutions mechanisms, which eventually failed to work. The mechanism applied by the two countries in order to achieve lasting peace and security was widely criticized because of its approach. The second Lebanon war included countries engaging in long battle fights which were meant to resettle their differences.

The two countries violated an international law code that states that countries are not supposed to use force in order to achieve some objectives. The international law on military and arsenal strength of a country clearly indicates that no country whatsoever should use excessive force to achieve its objectives. The two countries were accused of using excessive force in a bid to achieve their end objectives. The countries use of excessive force led to increased number of casualties. Use of excessive force is a military tact that is strongly prohibited.

The second Lebanon war violated the law on international diplomacy. International diplomacy law stipulates that countries should respect the sovereignty of their neighboring countries by engaging in diplomatic interventions as the best way to deal with a crisis. The war between these two countries illustrated how the diplomatic option was substituted for war. Both countries were not justified in engaging in the war because, that would show that the two countries did not recognize the sovereignty of each other. The countries violated the diplomatic code because the law indicates that countries are supposed to ignore the diplomatic mechanism only under circumstances in which the diplomatic option does not seem to work or in scenarios where the safety and security of a country has been threatened.

The second Lebanon war violated laws on the environment and animal rights. The second Lebanon war was accused of interfering with the ecosystem largely due to the fact that the chemical emissions from the war would negatively impact the environment. Various environmental groups and organizations strongly condemned the war citing disastrous environmental effects that would result from the war (Galnoor, 93). In addition, the environmental watchdogs indicated that environmental disasters which were had been brought by the war, would subsequently lead to food shortages and food insecurity in the future. The war was condemned for violating the rights of animals which were reported to die in large numbers because of the unfavorable conditions that the war had brought.

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Israel military operations

The second Lebanon war was focused on the response of Israel to the war. Israel was accused of using excessive military force. This was against basic laws that aimed at protecting civilians from excessive use of force by the military or police. The Israel military units were reported to have been applying inhuman torture mechanisms to the Arab captives. The Israeli military operations were pointed as the worst methods of torture administration ever witnessed in the last couple of years. Various media reports outlined how the Israeli soldiers  resulted to grave torture techniques whose objectives was to obtain important information from the Arab captives. The Israeli government was quick to refute such claims adding that the Israeli army was complying with all laws relating to military operations.

The Israeli government engaged in a number of public relation campaigns which were aimed at justifying the Israeli military operations. The government was accused of hiding the truth from the public. The government was accused of using inhuman diplomatic mechanisms in order to attain the much needed peace and security.

Israelis use of cluster munitions

The use of cluster munitions by the Israeli army was in contravention to the Ohio declarations in which over 100 states signed the declaration form which was against the use of cluster munitions. The Israeli army’s continued use of the cluster ammunitions was against the Ohio conventions which highly prohibited the use of cluster ammunitions. The use of cluster ammunitions was considered as an unfair and inhuman military tactic by Israeli army. Despite the Israeli army’s criticism, about the use of cluster munitions, media reports indicate that the military unit relies on cluster munitions in a bid to achieve meaningful battlefield success.

Role of United Nations in resolving the second Lebanon war

The United Nations was keen on the developments that led to the second Lebanon war. The United Nations was involved in deliberations and other policy framework intervention mechanisms in order, to resolve a war that had brought nothing but more human suffering and wanton destruction. The United Nations was involved in policy adjustments that related to international laws. The United Nations strived to put an end to this war but the strategies that it applied never worked. The United Nations introduced various articles in its legal clauses. These clauses were aimed at instituting new sanctions which would in effect make the countries refrain from further war. The second Lebanon war forced the United Nations top organ, the Security Council to initiate some codes which were meant to reduce the catastrophic effects of the Lebanon war.

Despite of the interventions by the United Nations and other international mechanisms to rescind the war, minimal efforts were achieved in avoiding a further war outbreak (UNDP, 25). The new article clauses introduced by the United Nations, were not adhered to and this seemed like a cat and mouse game. The Israeli parliament was reported to have given nod to the military action of its army (UN Yearbook, 6). These conflicting dimensions, made the problem even worse. Some international relations experts note that Israel was not ready to settle for a truce mechanism which would compromise its intelligence and military strength. The United States strongly condemned the war, calling it an unfortunate occurrence that compromised the peace process in the Middle East. One United States ambassador noted that the only solution that would work would include consultative talks that would be aimed at creating a common ground between the warring nations (Abiad & Mansoor, 80).

Israeli post war foreign policy

The second Lebanon war was a turning point for Israeli foreign policy frameworks. The war brought the idea of Israel adopting new rules which would enable it protect its interests. The Israeli government drafted new policy mechanisms that saw a paradigm shift in the way it associated with its neighbors. The Israeli government demanded that its neighbors recognize it as a legitimate nation whose sovereignty was supposed to be fulfilled.

Despite the new policy intervention mechanisms initiated by Israel, the process of finding a common ground between the two camps has been a task. The Arab countries have failed to completely honor Israel as a legitimate country. Analysts express worried sentiments that these contentious issues could compromise the overall peace process that the two countries desperately need (Stewart, 34).

The new Israeli foreign policy has been designed in such a way that it outlines various conditionality’s that, must be met, by other countries in order, for a country to be legitimately recognized by Israel. The new foreign policy outlook emphasizes on the mechanism of using diplomatic mechanisms in order to solve challenges that may arise in the near future with its neighbors (Nourallah, 12).

Despite the crafting of the new policy frameworks, critics contend that Israel has a lot of home work to do in terms of protecting the interests of its people because, it faces opposition from all Arab neighbors that surround it. However critics note the achievements of Israel in realizing a peace agreement has been its willingness to engage in direct talks with their Palestinian counterparts.

Reconstruction of destroyed property

The Israeli – Arab conflict has brought untold economic losses. In this regard, the Israeli government has put in place codes that will enable the country to embark on a series of economic reconstruction projects. The Israeli government has gone ahead to implement new legal mechanism that will ensure that the reconstruction of destroyed buildings takes place. The Israeli government introduced this law in order to foster reconstruction of dilapidated structures (Tickner & Waever, 4). The Israeli parliament was reported to have implemented fast reforms of the so called reconstruction policies in order to facilitate structural set ups.

Legal mechanisms to freeze Hezbollah financing

The second Lebanon war led to the establishment of laws that ensured that the terrorist group of Hezbollah was no longer receiving financing from external sources. Legal mechanisms were put in place to ensure that countries such as Iran would not be involved in financing the Hezbollah terrorist link. The United Nations in particular ratified some of the laws relating to arms and arms disarmament plans which would implicate those involved in the vice(Greenbaum, Veerman & Bacoon Shanoor, 50).

The funding of the Hezbollah terrorist organization was considered as illegal in the international perspective in the sense that the process was seen as to promote acts of terrorism (Warbrick, Kaikobad & Bohlander, 73). The funding process that was facilitated by Iran was expected to come to an end. Foreign relations experts noted that the Iranian support for Hezbollah was a motivating factor for the Hezbollah to advance its terrorist objectives. The freezing of Hezbollah funding would translate to a peaceful coexistence of these Arab nations.

Future Israeli- Arab relations

The future of Israeli- Arab relations is being closely watched. This is because of the uncertainty that has existed between the two sides. Political scientists note that the relations between Arab and Israeli nations have proved a hard task to predict because of the developments that keep on recurring day after day (Bring, Wrange & Endahl, 3). The Arab- Israeli relations have been seen to take new turns, thanks to efforts by the United Nations and international peace mediators. But unfortunately, the developments achieved in respect of achieving Middle East peace plan have been perceived as slow and of low impact. Thus stakeholders are optimistic of future prospects, thanks to the ongoing peace talks.

Conclusion

The second Lebanon war came at a moment when the world peace hangs on a delicate balance (Slomanson, 27). The war reminded the world that unless international rules and regulations are fostered, then the issue of lasting peace and security would remain like an illusion. The war brought the ugly side of poor international mechanisms to handle sovereign conflicts. The war was an eye opener to the world that unless more comprehensive policy frameworks are instituted to deal with the conflict, then future conflicts would keep on recurring again and again.

References

Slomanson, W.R. Fundamental Perspectives on International Law. Boston: Cengage Learning. 2010. Print.

Engdahl, O, Wrange, P & Bring, and O. Law at war: the law as it was and the law as it should be. Danvers: BRILL. 2010. Print.

Warbrick, C, Kaikobad, K.H & Bohlander, M. perspectives on legal order and justice: essays in honour of Colin Warbrick. Danvers: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. 2009. Print.

Tickner, A.B & Wæver, O. International relations scholarship around the world, Volume 1. New York: Taylor & Francis. 2009. Print.

Greenbaum, C.W, Veerman, P.E &  Bacon-Shnoor, N. Protection of children during armed political conflict: a multidisciplinary perspective. New York: Intersentia nv.2007. Print.

Stewart, D.J. The Middle East today: political, geographical and cultural perspectives. New York: Taylor & Francis. 2009. Print.

United Nations Development Programme. The Arab human development report 2005: towards the rise of women in the Arab world. New York: Stanford University Press. 2005. Print.

Nourallah, R.Beyond the Arab disease: new perspectives in politics and culture. New York: Taylor & Francis. 2006.

Abiad, N & Mansoor, F. Criminal Law and the Rights of the Child in Muslim States: A Comparative and analytical perspective. London: BIICL. 2010. Print.

United Nations. Yearbook of the United Nations, Volume 60; Volume 2006. New York: United Nations Publications. 2006. Print.

Galnoor, I. Public Management in Israel: Development, Structure, Functions and Reforms. London: Taylor & Francis. 2010. Print.

Gidron, B & Bar, M. Policy Initiatives towards the Third Sector in International Perspective. New York: Springer. 2009. Print.


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