It has become a tradition of the Minerva – ICRC conference on International Humanitarian Law to venture into unchartered territory and explore issues that are not only legally challenging, but of considerable practical relevance.

In past years, this forum has contributed to shed light on some of the most pressing issues pertaining to the protection of people caught up in armed conflict and whose lives, integrity and dignity depend on the correct application of international humanitarian law.

This year was certainly no exception.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of this series, held in Jerusalem between 15-17 November 2015, the conference was geared to reassessing the state of international humanitarian law (IHL) over the last decade and into the future.

To this end, one published paper from each of the previous nine conferences was selected as the cornerstone for a session on a key IHL issue – with the original paper presented by its author with the benefit of historical perspective, followed by extensive comments by a respondent, and audience questions and comments.

Topics included the occupation of Gaza, the application of human rights law and IHL in occupied territory, targeting cyber military objectives, ICC jurisdiction over acts committed in the Gaza Strip, humanitarian access in conflict zones, etc.

The conference was opened with a keynote address by Charles Allen, Deputy General Counsel for International Affairs of the U.S. Department of Defense, and concluded with a experts’ roundtable with included the distinguished Dr. Knut Doerrman, Head of the Legal Division at the ICRC, as well as Prof. Francoise Hampson of the University of Essex.

Photos by Eddie Gerald