Author: Ana Sánchez Mera*

The six-day war marked the beginning of the Israeli military occupation of Palestine. Ever since, Palestinians living in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip are subjected to the control imposed by the military authorities of the Israeli Government. One of the most unknown tools of the complex mechanism of occupation and oppression suffered by the Palestinian people is the legal system imposed on the population in the occupied Palestinian territory: the Israeli military code. It is important to remember that according to International Humanitarian Law civilians living under occupation have the status of protected people and should be treated as such. The purpose of this paper is  to bring us closer to that network of military orders that articulate the legal system within this territory. Military courts are the bodies responsible for administrating justice in the occupied territory which will be the focus of this article. The hypothesis  assumes that the legality of military courts, from a point of view of the IHRL and IHL, is substantially questionable, not only because of the lack of respect for due process and the absence of minimum procedural guarantees recognized in the Geneva Conventions, its additional protocols, the Universal Charter of Human Rights and the Covenant of Civil and Political Rights among others, but the political use that is afforded to them and being used as a tool of repression of the non-violent resistance movement in Palestine.

Keywords: Palestine, occupation, International Humanitarian Law, military orders, nonviolent resistance.

*Novact, Instituo para la Noviolencia Activa, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .