Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news: ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed Israel can “stand alone” after President Biden warned he would halt arm shipments if Israel launched a full-scale invasion of Rafah. “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails,” Netanyahu said. Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant also dismissed Biden’s warnings, saying Israel’s “enemies as well as … best of fri ..read more

Klasfeld’s reporting is part of Just Security’s Trump Trials Clearinghouse. As Stormy Daniels gears up for her second day of testimony against former President Donald Trump inside a lower Manhattan courtroom, Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan will likely maintain his close watch over the proceedings. On Tuesday, the judge sustained more than 50 objections, many of them packed into Daniels’ narration of the darker details of her alleged tryst with Trump, which prosecutors presented as the origin of the alleged 2016 campaign finance conspiracy on which their case relies. Her account cast everyt ..read more

As the deadly war in Sudan enters its second year, it is nearly impossible to overstate the global indifference and inaction in the face of ongoing devastating mass atrocities in Sudan. The international community’s virtual silence continues despite the imminent risk of genocide and crimes against humanity in El Fasher as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, besieges Darfur’s largest city, where essential supplies are running out. Seventy-five years ago, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – and with it, made the ..read more

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news: ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR Hamas said it will not compromise further with Israel to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. A member of Hamas’s political office in Qatar said late yesterday the group would not make further concessions to Israel beyond the ceasefire proposal it accepted Monday, which would also entail the release of some Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian women and children in Israel. He added, “Israel isn’t serious about reaching an ag ..read more

Last month, Europe’s top human rights court issued a major decision in the fight against climate change. In KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland, the highest chamber of the European Court of Human Rights found that the Swiss government has violated the human rights of its citizens by not doing enough to address the threat of climate change. The decision is a landmark ruling for activists, lawyers, and communities who are trying to use human rights law to hold governments accountable for promises to fight global warming. But it’s not the only case asking what international law requires of nations wh ..read more

We are pleased to introduce a symposium building on Armed Groups and International Law. In the Shadowland of Legality and Illegality (Edward Elgar, 2023). The book is not just on armed groups and international law – which may not be obvious from the title. Instead, it explores how the relation between armed groups and international law is conceived, and the different tensions that arise from this complex relationship. It is well-known that the majority of armed conflicts taking place around the world today include one or more armed groups. This has been the case for a number of years already ..read more

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news: ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR Israeli officials say major gaps with Hamas remain as negotiators from both sides continue talks in Cairo today. The main sticking point centers on a phrase that appears in both the Israeli- and Hamas-approved proposals: a path to a “sustainable calm.” Hamas defines that phrase as a permanent end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly o ..read more

In late April, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) released its 2022 report on civilian casualties caused by U.S. operations – almost a full year past the congressionally-mandated deadline of May 1, 2023. (The report for 2023, due May 1, 2024, has not been released as of this publication.) Once again, the Department reported that it made zero ex gratia payments to civilians harmed in its operations, following the trend from 2020 (zero payments) and 2021 (one payment). The Department’s failure to make payments is especially egregious given the explicit authorization of $3 million annually from ..read more

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here. A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news: ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR The Israeli military said this morning it has “operational control” of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing. An Israeli Defense Force official said the overnight operation resulted in the killing of 20 Gazan combatants, as well as the discovery of Hamas infrastructure including three operational tunnels. The operation is ongoing, the official said, with Israeli soldiers continuing to search for more such infrastr ..read more

Last week, the Oversight Board, an independent body created by Meta to answer some of the most difficult questions around freedom of expression on its Facebook, Instagram, and Threads platforms, published a policy paper outlining key lessons for industry on moderating content with respect to elections. With the populations of at least 80 countries around the world set to participate in elections this year, there has never been a more critical time for democracy, human rights, and open and fair societies. In the first three months of 2024 alone, people in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Ta ..read more