Is Israel’s invasion of Lebanon legal? This is what international law says.

Since Israel’s invasion of Lebanon began last month, the debate has been over the wisdom of Israel’s two-front strategy given the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the threat that the fight against Hezbollah poses to civilians and the threat it poses to a regional war could trigger, Iran flares up.

But perhaps more fundamental is the question of whether Israel’s invasion is legal under international law.

Israel says it has the right to defend itself, citing a year of Hezbollah rocket attacks from Lebanese territory. Some of his critics disagree.

“Legality is largely in the eye of the beholder,” said Hugh Lovatt, an expert on international law and armed conflict at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Does Israel’s right to self-defense trump Lebanon’s right to sovereignty?” We can circle this circle over and over again.”

Some experts also say self-defense has its legal limits, particularly when Israel’s use of force in Lebanon is disproportionate to the threat it faces or when protecting civilians is not a priority.

“You have a right to self-defense, but you must exercise that self-defense in a certain way,” said Judge Kai Ambos, a law professor at the University of Göttingen in Germany who sits at a special court in The Hague that prosecutes war crimes, the were committed in Kosovo in the 1990s. “It’s not limitless.”