The Stone -Lauterpacht sovereignty vacuum thesis applies to Gaza given October 7, and provides the legal basis for the Trump Gaza redevelopment plan - UN 1947 Two State Resolution may no longer be relevant

 by Ganeeh Sahathevan

Gazans support for HAMAS is backed by international actors,all who seemed happy that their backing was rewarded by October 7

by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Professor Julius Stone , the former  Challis Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the University of Sydney, writing in 2008 said: 

Acquisition of Sovereignty
This analysis, based on the sovereignty vacuum, affords a common legal frame for the legal positions of both West and East Jerusalem after both the 1948-49 and the 1967 wars. In 1967, Israel’s entry into Jerusalem was by way lawful self-defence, confirmed in the Security Council and General Assembly by the defeat of Soviet and Arab-sponsored resolutions demanding her withdrawal…
(Professor Sir Elihu ) Lauterpacht has offered a cogent legal analysis leading to the conclusion that sovereignty over Jerusalem has already vested in Israel. His view is that when the partition proposals were immediately rejected and aborted by Arab armed aggression, those proposals could not, both because of their inherent nature and because of the terms in which they were framed, operate as an effective legal re-disposition of the sovereign title.

 

While the Stone -Lauterpacht thesis of the sovereignty vacuum was formulated with regards Palestine it may be even more applicable given the fact that Gazans supported HAMAS in their October 7 2023 raid on Israel. They did so by the fact that they voted HAMAS into power, and have kept them there, providing the revenue HAMAS requires to finance its operations. 
By all accounts Gazans are not prepared to be rid of HAMAS and continue to support them, leaving Israel and its allies with no choice but to keep attacking HAMAS in Gaza. There is no prevailing law in Gaza, and it remains a base from which HAMAS can continue to attack Israel.There appears therefore to be a sovereignty vacuum in Gaza, with Israel being the party that can fill that vacuum. Israel then has the power to handover the sovereignty to the United States,as Trump has proposed. The UN 1947 Two State Resolution may no longer be relevant. 

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