Quale legittima difesa dopo il 7 ottobre 2023?

The armed operation launched by Israel on the territory of Gaza as a response to the terrorist attacks of 7 October 2023 severely challenges the rules on jus ad bellum. The author discusses whether the model of self-defense enshrined in Article 51 UN Charter or a wider notion of self-defense, shaped on the war on terrorism as developed after the attacks of 11 September 2001, applies to the case at hand. The latter seems to be pertinent in view of the long-term strategic objectives pursued by the Israeli armed operation, that is to obliterate or eradicate Hamas as a terrorist group. The sharp division existing among the member States of the United Nations concerning the legality of the Israeli armed operation, as well as the failure by the UN political organs to explicitly endorse the right of self-defense in the case at hand, confirm that the expanded view of self-defense referred to above still fails to find a definitive recognition in the international community.