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Under international law, Gaza's siege is illegal. As an occupying power, Fourth Geneva provisions are inviolable. Israel must protect residents it controls. Violating its obligations is an international crime.
Moreover, blockades are acts of war. They're defined as:
- surrounding a nation or objective with hostile forces;
- measures to isolate an enemy;
- encirclement and besieging;
- preventing the passage in or out of supplies, military forces, or aid in time of or as an act of war; and
- an act of naval warfare to block access to an enemy's coastline and deny entry to all vessels and aircraft.
International water interdictions constitute piracy. Under Article 101 of the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas and 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), maritime piracy includes:
"any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation...against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State (and) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating (such) an act."
Free, unimpeded humanitarian relief can't be blocked. Even under conditions of armed conflict, the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflict at Sea (June 1994), states:
"If the civilian population of the blockaded territory is inadequately provided with food and other objects essential for its survival, the blockading party must provide for free passage of such foodstuffs and other essential supplies."
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