LEGITIMACY AND ILLEGITIMACY OF THE USE FORCE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: RUSSIAN-UKRAINE AND PALESTINE-ISRAELI CONFLICTS IN FOCUS

The Russo-Ukraine and Palestine-Israeli conflicts are one of the most devastating geo-political conflicts in the 21st century. From human rights perspective, the alleged violations of international law in the ongoing war in Ukraine and Palestine respectively are not only considered as abhorrent, but also raises significant concerns about the legitimacy of Russia and Israel’s aggression against Ukraine and Palestine respectively. The laws of war are means to an end to achieve legitimacy by showing respect for rule of law and abiding by universal ethical and moral principles. This paper therefore argues that Russia and Israel’s use of force against Ukraine and Palestine respectively violates international humanitarian law or law of wars on the basis of Article 2(4) and Article 51 of the UN Charter. This paper seeks to determine the legitimacy and illegitimacy of the military aggression of Russia and Israel in the context of international humanitarian law. To achieve this objective, the paper adopts the qualitative method of inquiry. This paper adopts the Just War theory to strengthen the argument of this paper by interrogating the legitimacy and illegitimacy of Russia and Israel’s use of force against Ukraine and Palestine as well as the conduct of the war. The paper concludes that Russia and Israel’s use of military force negates the universal principle of morality and ethics as their actions seriously negates the provisions of Article 2(4) and Article 51 of the UN charter. Israel’s use of force in Gaza is disproportionate, while Russia’s conduct of the war violates the prohibition of the use of force as provided by international humanitarian law.