Strategic Assessment

IDF shelling of UNRWA premises in Operations Cast Lead and Protective Edge was examined by two UN Boards of Inquiry. They both concluded – expressly or by implication – that Israel was responsible for the attacks in that it violated the principle of inviolability of UN premises. This article examines the protection of UN premises under international humanitarian law and the principle of “inviolability” within the meaning of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, and argues that the former is inadequate, and the latter irrelevant. It proposes granting UN premises “special protection” – similar to that afforded to hospitals, places  of worship, and cultural property in times of armed conflict – and anchoring it in a “special agreement” between Israel, the UN, and the “silent party” (i.e., Hamas), analogous to the Grapes of Wrath Understanding between Israel and Lebanon (and the “silent party,” in that case, Hizbollah).