The Red Cross and the Islamic University in Gaza plan to hold a joint conference on Sharia law.

The faculty of Sharia (Islamic law) at the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University in Gaza is preparing to hold an international conference in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross on the subject of international humanitarian law in light of Islamic Sharia

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The conference is scheduled to take place on October 13 and 14 this year, according to a joint ad of the Red Cross and the Islamic University, which appeared in the Hamas-affiliated Palestine newspaper on Sunday.

According to the ad, the first session of the conference will deal with humanitarian issues. 

The second session will discuss the basic principles in the management of armed conflicts, the third session will deal with victims’ rights and measures for their protection during armed conflict, and the fourth session will deal with guarantees for the implementation of the principles of the management of armed conflict and modern challenges.

All the sessions will examine these issues according to Sharia law and international humanitarian law, the ad states.

The cooperation with the Red Cross is puzzling given that the Islamic University is considered a stronghold of Hamas and, according to Israeli intelligence, Hamas uses it to develop its rocket arsenal.

In January of 2009, the Israeli Air Force attacked a target at the Islamic University which served as a laboratory for developing weapons.

During a visit to Gaza in 2012, Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal spoke at the Islamic University, and called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to retire from politics. In the speech, Mashaal also praised Hamas’s targeting of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem with rockets during Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense which preceded his visit to Gaza.