Israel has taken harsh military action against the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave under the rule of Hamas, following the militant group's assault earlier this month. Both sides have incurred heavy casualties, including civilians, arresting widespread denunciations. But with the global spotlight now on Israel, legal experts have raised alarm over the country's violation of international law.

Hamas' attack, unrivaled in both scale and intensity for decades, has drawn some of the fiercest responses from the Israeli government, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to "demolish" the Gaza ruler and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant calling Palestinians "a beastly people." On social media, Energy Minister Israel Katz said no "electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened, and no fuel truck will enter" until the hostages taken by Hamas during its incursion are freed.

Accompanying the tough rhetoric was Israel's barrage of aerial bombings in Gaza, a campaign that has lasted over a week and killed more than 2,800 people. While Western countries say Israel has the right to defend itself, experts say Israel's actions have gone far beyond the confines of international law.

"Israel is indeed legally justified in using force to retaliate against Hamas' surprise attack, especially the group's targeting of civilians, including women and children, but Israel's indiscriminate pounding of the enmeshed population in Gaza not only constitutes a clear breach of international humanitarian laws but also amounts to an act of crime," Huang Jin, president of the Chinese Society of International Law, told CGTN.

According to the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare and the Modern War Institute at West Point, the non-international character of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas makes it subject to Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and its additional protocols. These laws explicitly prohibit the collective punishment of a population.

United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Turk said on October 10 that Israel's air strikes targeted schools, residential buildings and UN bodies in addition to Hamas' military facilities. While condemning the "horrifying mass killings (in Israel) by members of Palestinian armed groups," Turk also said Israel's "imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential for their survival is prohibited under international humanitarian law."

On top of its worst aerial bombardment in the 75 years of conflict with the Palestinians, Israel's move to cut off power, water and fuel supplies to Gaza has effectively crippled civilian access to everyday necessities. The dire situation has been compounded with people crowding into schools and hospitals, hoping to find shelter. Meanwhile, more than a million people, about half the population in the enclave, have fled their homes amid Israel's warning that it is preparing to launch a ground offensive into the territory.

The expected ground invasion is bound to take place, Tang Zhichao, director of political studies at the Institute of West-Asia and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told CGTN.  He sees it as an extension of Israel's numerous violations of humanitarian laws since it imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2007.

Over the course of the past 16 years, the Gaza Strip has been under land, air and sea blockades imposed by Israel after the country disengaged from the territory. The lives of Gaza residents have been marked by severe hardship, as Israel has employed essential supplies as leverage to rein in Hamas, and frequent tit-for-tat exchanges of attacks have brought significant devastation to the enclave.

"The blockade itself was a typical transgression," Tang said.

Israel has not yet launched a ground offensive, which Tang attributed primarily to Hamas' holding of hostages. But regardless of the circumstances, the country remains resolute in its commitment to reducing the group to insignificance, he said. That prospect forebodes the further suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza.

"Israel needs to cease its use of retaliatory actions leading to civilian casualties," Huang said, adding that the UN Security Council should convene an emergency meeting to explore avenues toward achieving a ceasefire.