President: Maya Talhouni 

Chair: Rama Sabanekh 

The terrorist group ISIS (sometimes referred to as ISIL; the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) has since breaching Iraq’s security measures in January been responsible for the deaths of over 5,500 civilians, has wounded over 11,000 and internally displaced 1.2 million people. It threatens the safety of the Kurdish region, has taken complete control over Mosul and has driven out all of its Christian, Shiite and Yazidi inhabitants, and threatens further expansion in Syria. It poses a threat to all the bordering nations of Iraq and Syria, and poses a severe security crisis in both aforementioned states.

Israel is no stranger to violating UN Security Council resolutions or committing war crimes. Since 2008, it has waged two ‘operations’ on the occupied Gaza Strip, resulting in irrefutable infrastructural damage and leading to thousands of civilian deaths. Israel used white phosphorus munitions on civilian areas in both offenses, a tactic classed as an international war crime. In the 2014 siege on Gaza, Israel destroyed a hefty percentage of homes, schools, hospitals, trading centres and ministry buildings, as well as demolishing a factory after the implementation of the long-term ceasefire and clearing a 3km ‘buffer zone’ of its civilian population and their homes. The 3km ‘buffer zone’ alone totals an area of 162 km2. Following both operations, Israel has suspended and blocked the entry of resources into Gaza, further hindering its ability to rebuild its infrastructure following yet another Israeli siege.