Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has described a pervasive “lawlessness in the rules of war” across the Middle East. She warned that the Geneva Conventions forbid attacks on civilians and, if those legal norms are abandoned, conflicts between warring parties inevitably turn into wars against the civilian populace. According to Spoljaric, violating humanitarian international law is “self‑destructive” a point she made in an interview with the German newspaper FAZ and applied also to recent attacks on Iran.
Spoljaric contrasted Israel’s military conduct in Lebanon with Russia’s actions in Ukraine, describing the strategy of rendering civilian life impossible as a long‑standing tactic observed in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and, now, southern Lebanon. She said that civilians are being instrumentalised to achieve military objectives and that these wars are aimed at eroding the very foundations of entire populations’ livelihoods.
Expressing deep concern about the effectiveness of international law, Spoljaric emphasised that its impact ultimately depends on implementation, just as national law does. She called on states to be compelled again to observe the Geneva Conventions, noting that enforcement requires adequately equipped courts and properly trained militaries. She warned that when governments prepare for war solely with military means, ordinary people inevitably bear the brunt.