Rebuilding Gaza remains a moral responsibility for the EU. But there is a dimension of the reconstruction and post-conflict situation that is not being addressed: Israel’s responsibility under international law to repay for the destruction it has caused.
This is a key principle of customary international law of state responsibility for internationally wrongful acts: a state is obliged to repair the injury caused by a breach of substantive rules of international law.
The EU has been justly and firmly defending this principle on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine since 2022, advocating that Ukraine and its people receive full reparations for the damage caused by Russia.
To this end, it has prominently joined the Council of Europe’s framework for reparations, which include the Register of Damages and the International Claims Commission, and supports the work of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine and of the ICC in investigating crimes committed by Russia during the conflict.
Why the Israel double-standard?
