Israel's military operation in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed thousands of buildings, and severely restricted the supply of food.
The operation was launched after Hamas rampaged through villages, military posts and a music festival in Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. The United Nations' (UN) human rights body would later conclude that Hamas had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time that like every country, Israel has an inherent right to defend itself. He argues his country's military operation in Gaza is a just war with the goals of destroying Hamas and bringing home all the hostages.
Leading human rights organisations and some countries accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing and acts of genocide. Netanyahu denies this and has strongly criticised such allegations.
An important aspect of how international law applies to wars is the principle of proportionality.
In the words of the International Committee of the Red Cross, it means that the effects of the means and methods of warfare used must not be disproportionate to the military advantage sought.
BBC Verify has spoken to a range of international law experts to ask whether they consider Israel's actions to have been proportionate. The vast majority of them, with different degrees of certainty, told us that Israel's actions are not proportionate. They reference not only Israel's overall conduct in the conflict but also more recent events.
International law is based on a series of agreements to which most countries in the world are parties, including Israel. It addresses proportionality in two key ways: the overall military response must be proportionate to the threat, and each individual military action must also maintain a proportional expectation of civilian harm against military advantage.
Critics highlight that over 64,500 individuals, many of them non-combatants, have reportedly died due to Israel's military actions during the campaign, posing serious questions about the proportionality of such an aggressive operational scope.
While Israel has claimed that Hamas operates from within civilian areas, potentially justifying parts of its attacks, many experts believe that civilian casualties and infrastructure destruction have far exceeded what could be deemed necessary under international law guidelines.
The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza is further exacerbated by access restrictions imposed by Israel, leading to accusations of using food as a weapon of war, which is indeed illegal under international law.
The situation remains contentious with Israel's assertive claims of self-defense contrasting sharply against criticisms of its military actions as being motivated by revenge rather than necessary self-protection. As assessments of the conflict continue to evolve, the question of proportionality looms large in the international legal landscape.
