The Use of Force in Law Enforcement Operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

This legal brief aims to provide a simplified overview of the international legal framework regulating the use of force in law enforcement operations, and its application in occupied territory. More specifically, it provides an accessible guide to the international legal rules applicable to Israel and the Israeli security forces executing such functions in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), especially in the West Bank. On the basis of the requirements of international law that it surveys, the brief outlines concrete changes—in law, policy and practice—that the Israeli authorities must implement in the oPt. In so doing, the brief seeks to assist stakeholders in the oPt by furnishing them with clear guidance on appropriate language to use in their engagements with duty bearers with regard to the use of force, including guidance specific to each stage of law enforcement operations. 

Further resources

For more on the use of force see our Q&A on the use of force in law enforcement in the occupied Palestinian territory, thematic note on law enforcement in Israel-Palestine, and the Diakonia Easy Guide to IHL (available in English and Arabic). 

PHOTO: ISRAELI SOLDIERS TAKE POSITION AMID CLASHES WITH PALESTINIAN DEMONSTRATORS FOLLOWING A PROTEST AGAINST THE EXPROPRIATION OF PALESTINIAN LAND BY ISRAEL IN THE VILLAGE OF KFAR QADDUM IN THE OCCUPIED WEST BANK, NEAR THE JEWISH SETTLEMENT OF KEDUMIM, ON 30 SEPTEMBER 2022. AFP/JAAFAR ASHTIYEH