The ICRC delegation in Israel and the Occupied Territories launched yesterday the 4th Annual Seminar on International Humanitarian Law. This event, organised jointly by the ICRC and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), is an annual professional training course geared to young legal professionals – Israeli and Palestinian – from the private, public and third sectors in the country. The Seminar is part of the ICRC’s efforts to promote awareness and understanding of international humanitarian law (IHL) in this context. Its aim is to provide participants with a strong foundation of IHL and the tools necessary to deal with complex legal questions that are relevant in Israel and the region, including: the deprivation of liberty, conduct of hostilities, the law of occupation, the enforcement and implementation of IHL, and more.

Among the Seminar speakers are some of Israel’s foremost legal authorities, drawn from Academia, Government, the IDF and civil society. They include: Prof. David Kretzmer (Hebrew University), Adv. Eli Bahar (previously served in the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet)), Col. Doron Ben Barak (West Bank legal adviser), Prof. Aeyal Gross (Tel Aviv University), Prof. Yuval Shany (Hebrew University), Dr. Gilad Noam (Ministry of Justice), Adv. Michael Sfard, Col. Noam Neumann (International Law Department, MAG) and Lt. Col. Adoram Riegler (Operational Affairs Department, MAG). The course is divided into six sessions of 8-hours, taking place through May, at the Neve Schechter Institute in Tel Aviv. “We look forward to another fruitful Seminar where we will be tackling some of the most complex and sensitive issues arising from the application of IHL in Israel and the Occupied Territories”, said Larry Maybee, the Head of the Legal Department of the ICRC in Israel and the Occupied Territories.