Palestine’s Maritime Rights vs Israel’s Bully Take Over: An Exit Path

14 October 2025. From 12:00 | Conference | English | IEMed

The maritime rights of Palestine have been overshadowed by the tremendous humanitarian crisis that risked the very existence of the Palestinians as a people. Palestinians have been denied access to their rights in the sea for over a century. With its declaration in 1948, Israel controlled over 80% of Palestine’s coast. Only a small fraction of the coast on the Mediterranean Sea, about 40 kilometers long, was left over to the Palestinians offshore Gaza. Even in this limited portion, the Palestinians have been for long deprived from controlling their sea. With the 2014 accession of the State of Palestine to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, prospects for Palestine to declare its prerogatives under the Convention were vivid. However, the ability of exercising actual control over Palestine’s maritime zones in the Gaza coast continue to face enforcement challenges due to Israeli naval blockade, military occupation and, now, genocide. This presentation focuses on Palestine’s maritime boundary delimitation claims and settlements of disputes.

A lecture by Mutaz M. Qafisheh, a Professor of International Law, and founding and former dean of the Hebron University College of Law and Political Science, Palestine. He founded Hebron University’s 14 legal clinics. He also advises several organizations, including the United Nations and Palestine Liberation Organization. In the past he has worked as Human Rights Officer at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Beirut, and Ramallah. He was director of Legal Education for Palestine Law Schools, Jerusalem, and Legal Advisor for Palestinian Parliament. He has also authored and edited six books and some 50 peer-reviewed articles published by international publishers and journals. Currently, he chairs the Board of Trustees of UK-based Law for Palestine Organization and is Deputy President of the Palestinian Research Council.

Qafisheh’s research relates to International Law generally, Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law, migrations, refugees, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Law of the Sea, among others

A session within the framework of the Aula Mediterrània lecture series. Co-organised with the Master’s Degree in Diplomacy and International Organisations, CEI/UB.