The legality of recourse to defensive force in Islamic and international law: (with reference to the case in Palestine)

This thesis is a study of the legality of using force in a defensive way from the perspective of Islamic and International law regarding the Palestinian use of force in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict. This thesis is a doctrinal and applicable study of the jus ad bellum principle of the defensive use of force in Islamic and international law, applying it to the case of Palestine. That is to say, the first part of the thesis is an analysis of the defensive use of force in Islamic and international law from a doctrinal perspective; the second part is a discussion of how to apply these norms to the case of the Palestinian use of force. The objective of the research is to understand the doctrinal concept of the principle of the defensive use of force and the legal stance of the Palestinian defensive use of force in Islamic and international law. The study of both angles of law is significant because they both function together and are relied on at the present time by Palestinian fighters who are concerned with the legality of their resistance. The study concludes that the legal concept of the defensive use of force from the perspective of Islamic and international law is applied to Palestinians living inside Palestine today