Israel has today declared war on Hamas after ‘unprecedented assault by Hamas militants from Gaza’. The serious bombing raids have been directed deep into Israeli Territory. There are claims that Hamas ‘has not been working alone’ but it also seems that Hamas has been seriously underestimated: there was a ‘war’ by Hamas already in 2017, lasting for 51 days. I was then Expert in a case in a California Court where one side argued that Hamas could not be ‘waging a war’ as Hamas is not a State. The Case was about an insurance policy that would not cover the insured for ‘war’ but only for ‘terrorist attacks’ etc. But on the basis of my Opinion, the Court held that there had been a real ‘war’ as the weapons and the causalities were at a level that it had to be called a ‘war’. The Court thus held that also a non-State entity can be a party to a ‘war’ and an insurance policy excluding war would not cover the insured!

Prof. Dr. Ingrid Detter de Frankopan

of Counsel to RJ Gaudet Law Firm 

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/07/world/israel-gaza-attack