Water Under Fire: The (Il)Legality of Reprisals Against Desalination Plants
Protection of Water During and After Armed Conflict
Brief and commentary
Water infrastructure has emerged as a critical, and increasingly vulnerable, feature of contemporary armed conflict, and has in many contexts been deliberately targeted or incidentally damaged. This trend is evident in the ongoing international armed conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
In a recent post in Opinio Juris, the world’s first blog dedicated to the informed discussion of international law by and among academics, practitioners and legal experts, our project manager Tadesse Kebebew explores the relevant pressing question: can attacks on desalination plants be lawful?
His analysis argues, amongst other, that as desalination plants qualify as objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population under international humanitarian law (IHL), and therefore enjoy heightened protection.
Read the full analysis here.
