In her instructive article, Professor Lapidoth discussed, inter alia, the applicability of the laws of war to the territories administered by the Israel Defence Forces since the Six Day War of 1967. Being in full agreement with Professor Lapidoth that from the legal standpoint the situation is in need of improvement, I wish to deal more extensively with two questions: (1) What is the position of the Government of Israel regarding the applicability to Judea and Samaria and to the Gaza Strip of the Hague Regulations of 1907 respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, and of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War? (2) What is the position of the Supreme Court with regard to the applicability of the Regulations and the Convention to these territories.

The Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, convened by the Swiss Federal Council, held four sessions in Geneva during the years 1974–1977. On 8 June 1977, the Conference adopted by consensus two Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, the first relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts (Protocol I), and the second relating to the protection of victims of noninternational armed conflicts (Protocol II).

The states invited to the Conference were all the states Parties to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and such states non-Parties as were members of the United Nations. 126 states were represented at the first session, 121— at the second, 106—at the third and 109—at the fourth.

Third party involvement in keeping the peace in the Middle East has been a constant phenomenon accompanying the vicissitudes of the Arab-Israeli conflict from the war of 1948 up to the present day. The dominant pattern has been the employment of United Nations forces and observers, charged with supervising either the implementation of Security Council resolutions calling for the cessation of hostilities, or the implementation of agreements reached between the parties concerned. The uninterrupted presence of UN personnel in the Middle East has shown that the international community as a whole and the parties in conflict have considered UN peacekeeping essential for reducing tensions and instrumental in bringing to an end local flare-ups. It was only natural that immediately after the Yom Kippur War of October 1973 the states actively involved in the pursuit of peace should rely on the establishment of effective UN supervisory machinery to monitor the execution by the parties of the various security arrangements agreed upon. A United Nations Emergency Force was accordingly dispatched to the Egyptian-Israeli sector and undertook the task of supervision, with the cooperation of observers belonging to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization. However, foreseen and unforeseen problems arose in the process leading from one disengagement agreement to another and to the treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel of March 1979.