By: Dr. Muhammad Khalil Al-Musa.
(Exclusively for al-Zaytouna Centre).
Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations has published a legal paper, in Arabic, titled “Humanitarian Aid in Situations of Starvation: Between Legal Obligation and Politicization: The Case of Gaza in Light of the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), 
” by Dr. Muhammad Khalil Al-Musa, Professor of Public International Law. It examines humanitarian assistance in contexts of starvation through the lens of legal obligations and political realities, with particular emphasis on the case of Gaza Strip (GS).
In theory, international law obliges states and relevant bodies to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance to besieged civilian populations. In practice, however, this obligation is frequently hollowed out through politicization and geopolitical alliances. GS constitutes a stark illustration of the contradiction between legal norms and their practical implementation, where a systematic blockade has intersected with ongoing grave violations of civil, economic and social rights, thereby transforming international law from an instrument of protection into a tool of political pressure.
In this paper, the researcher proposed an innovative conceptual framework for engaging with, understanding and analyzing international law. This framework is built on three interconnected levels: formal international law, substantive international law, and the transformative—or subversive—use of international law. The framework also introduces the concept of asymmetry of effective power, which highlights the contradiction between the formal equality suggested by international law and the actual disparities in power among states, whereby major powers occupy privileged positions that enable them to impose their vision and shape the law to serve their interests.
This paper engages with the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), which emphasize the influence of historical hegemony in shaping international law and perpetuating power disparities between Western states and the Global South. Historical hegemony refers to the enduring impact of colonial structures on the fabric of international law, both in its textual provisions and in its practices, as it reproduces relations of domination and inequality from its origins in the European colonial context to the present day. By establishing this connection, the paper enhances the understanding and analysis of the contemporary international legal system and its underlying realities, thereby situating the research within a critical global framework.
This paper adopts a critical perspective that rejects any strict separation between past and present, emphasizing that contemporary mechanisms of international law continue to bear the imprint of their colonial origins, rendering them susceptible to bias and politicization, particularly in moments when recourse to justice is most urgent.
The paper further asserts that, despite the radical nature of this critique, it does not constitute a call to dismantle the international legal system; rather, it represents a necessary step toward its reform and development. The aim is not to undermine international justice, but to expose its forms of bias and politicization and to contribute to building a system better equipped to protect rights and liberate itself from the legacy of hegemony.
The paper addresses starvation as a war crime, a crime against humanity, and/or a crime of genocide, situating it within international law (including peremptory norms and human rights) from a critical perspective grounded in the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL).
It argues that the application of international law in the case of GS reveals structural biases that serve the interests of major powers, thereby affirming the TWAIL assertion that international law is not a neutral instrument of justice, but rather a tool of political domination.
In this paper, the author analyzes this contradiction by examining three main aspects: the failure of peremptory norms, the abuse of the veto power, and the structural incapacity of international judicial institutions.
This paper was originally presented at a panel discussion titled “Starving the Gaza Population: Israel’s Crime and International Responsibility,” organized by the Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations in cooperation with the Palestinian Association for Human Rights (Witness), on 24/9/2025, via Zoom.
| Click here to download: >> Legal Paper: Humanitarian Aid in Situations of Starvation: Between Legal Obligation and Politicization: The Case of Gaza in Light of the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) … Dr. Muhammad Khalil Al-Musa (Arabic) (36 pages, 1.6 MB) |
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