The right to wage war is almost entirely limited to sovereign states. This is usually seen as the product of humanitarian concerns. However, argue Claire Vergerio and Quentin Bruneau, the principle was enshrined in the nineteenth century to empower existing state authorities against challengers—including groups struggling against colonialism, who were reduced to criminals. This is now playing out in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Israel is granted a right to wage war denied to Palestinians.

1. An Israeli ‘right to self-defense’ versus a Palestinian ‘right to resistance’

In a collective response to the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack, Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, Giorgia Meloni, and Rishi Sunak declared ‘their support for Israel and its right to defend itself against terrorism’ while also calling for ‘adherence to international humanitarian law’. Months later, faced with the mounting death toll in Gaza, the overwhelming sentiment among many governments in the West seems to be that both sides have committed terrible atrocities in violation of international humanitarian law, but that ultimately, Israel was and remains legally entitled to defend itself.