The world has failed Gaza

"The situation in Gaza obviously is a catastrophe by every measure - humanitarian, but also a complete failing of the existing political system to deal with that crisis," Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said at the Saudi-hosted World Economic Forum on April 28.

“We are going to look at how we can solve the bigger problem in the context of Gaza. That is a real commitment to a two-state solution that is a credible, irreversible path to a Palestinian State,” he added.

At least 34,654 Palestinians have been killed, and 77,908 wounded in Israel’s devastating ongoing war on the Israel attack On Gaza.

" It's going to be a long war that's not close to ending." Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to reassure his Likud party's members as some were worried that the fighting had been intensive without the Israeli government's maximalist objective – destroying Hamas – having been achieved.

This is how he intends to retain the leadership of the radical right, which prefers the annihilation of the Islamist movement to the release of Israeli hostages.

Israeli air, land, and sea daily bombardment continues to be reported across most of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, destruction of houses  hospitals , medical centers and other civilian infrastructures , strangling the Gaza Strip from food, water, and medicine.

As a result, people in Gaza (mainly children) have already begun to die from starvation and dehydration.

Israel has gone further in attempting to destroy the fabric of Palestinian society by deliberately targeting cultural institutions , universities, libraries, archives, religious buildings, and historical sites.

On its part , in an interim ruling last January the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Besides, Amnesty said in a statement recently  that “evidence of war crimes continues to mount as the Israeli government makes a mockery of international law in Gaza.”

Its report released on April 23rd points to “the US ’s brazen use of its veto to paralyze the UN Security Council for months on a much-needed resolution for a ceasefire, as it continues to arm Israel with munitions that have been used to commit what likely amounts to war crimes,” the organization said.

Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of the organization, said “The confounding failure of the international community to protect thousands of civilians – a horrifically high percentage of them  children – from being killed in the occupied Gaza Strip makes patently clear that the very institutions set up to protect civilians and uphold human rights are no longer fit for purpose.”

“What we saw in 2023 confirms that many powerful states are abandoning the founding values of humanity and universality enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Callamard emphasized.

For more than seven months the world has been “watching’’, failing in its responsibility to act in the face of this terrible war and the credible accounts of war crimes being committed on daily basis by Israel .

Moreover , Netanyahu told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on May 1 that he would not accept an end to the war in Gaza as part of any potential hostage deal with Hamas according to Israeli media reports.

“The Rafah operation does not depend on anything,” said the PMO.

Despite this mounting tally of death, destruction and devastation, it appears that international humanitarian law has been consigned to a footnote, an afterthought, as Israel’s allies especially the US has been showing steadfast solidarity and support to a seemingly unfettered right to self-defense.

The US said earlier that it opposed the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Israel's conduct in Gaza, amid reports that Israeli officials fear the Hague-based tribunal could soon issue arrest warrants.

"We've been really clear about the ICC investigation, that we don't support it, we don't believe that they have the jurisdiction," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a briefing.

The New York Times quoted Israeli officials as saying that Netanyahu himself could be among those charged.

"Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense," Netanyahu said on X.

However, international humanitarian law is clear: the commission by one party to a conflict – including an armed group – of serious violations of international humanitarian law does not justify their commission by another.

Legal experts are clear that Israel , even as it acts in self – defense , cannot justify committing war crimes such as collective punishment of Palestinians, attacks on civilians, forcible transfer of a civilian population and the bombardment of civilian localities, and its failure to allow humanitarian relief into Gaza.

The world’s failure to prevent these violations of international law and the full consequences of this collective failure to condemn or halt Israeli violence will be felt for decades to come.

However , the significant pro- Palestinian student demonstrations at universities across the US since April 17 protesting Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza is a clear message to the whole world and to the US in particular from the “young’’- leaders of the future that justice will prevail in the end and Palestinians will have their full rights in their independent Palestinian state .