Daily Times

Israeli aggression against Gaza has raised many questions about the relevance of the United Nations (UN) in global politics. Maintaining international peace and security has been one of the primary objectives of the UN and to achieve this objective the UN Security Council (UNSC) has been authorised to take action with respect to threats, breach of peace and acts of aggression. The UNSC can exert wider powers to maintain international peace and security with the consensus of the P5 and, unlike General Assembly resolutions, these UNSC resolutions are binding upon member states to compel the aggressor to comply with the resolutions.
To further clarify, jurists and political experts deliberated to define the word “aggression” and, eventually, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on December 14, 1974 that defined the word aggression and what constitutes the act of aggression. Though it was deliberately left incomplete, Israeli air strikes on Gaza, its blockade and human sufferings can be definitely termed as acts of aggression on the part of a powerful state that was established unjustly in the territory of Palestine.
Gaza definitely presents a case for the right of self-determination for Palestinians. Moreover, in the context of human rights violations, we know that human rights violations during the Second World War were the driving factor for the establishment of the world body. The UN charter has clear provisions regarding the protection of human rights without distinction of race and religion. Unfortunately, these clauses only contain injunctions and do not impose any legal obligations on the member states and, due to these limitations, human rights have always remained a low priority subject for member states except when major powers’ interests have been threatened and have utilised politically motivated terminologies such as humanitarian intervention.
The situation in Gaza and the killing of women and children goes unnoticed not just in western capitals but Muslim states have also been maintaining criminal silence. The west has its own reasons to ignore Israeli atrocities whether we call it their political interests or civilisational bias. As for Muslim states, they have always been viewing the situation in their traditional, narrow, sectarian perspective without showing any concern for humanitarian sufferings that are increasing every day. This is not the first time Gazans are facing Israeli aggression; Hamas and Israel have fought two wars: in 2009, hostilities ended without reaching a truce while in 2012, Egypt mediated a ceasefire that was breached several times.
The current phase of violence was initiated during the holy month of Ramzan and has continued so far. After a month or so, Egypt tried to bring the two parties to the negotiating table but the temporary, week-long truce between Hamas and Israel ended with the resumption of hostilities as both sides blamed each other for violating the truce. Israel alleges Hamas launches rockets towards Israel that ironically have not killed or injured anyone. In response, the Israeli military has launched attacks on at least 10 sites in Gaza that have killed civilians, including women and children, and ended the dialogue process held in Cairo to reach a permanent ceasefire and to end the war that has killed more than 2,000 Palestinians in only a month.
The international community’s indifference towards the resolution of the Palestine-Israel conflict contributes to give rise to many contemporary issues. The conflict not just threatens regional peace and stability but helps to enhance militancy and extremism as well. The injustice against Palestinians and the duplicity of other states helped in the emergence of non-state actors motivated to defend their land.
Another important dimension of the conflict has been the multiplicity of actors in the Palestine-Israel conflict; initially it was a bilateral issue known as the Arab-Israel conflict but later on, after the recognition of Israel by some Arab states, it became the Palestine-Israel conflict where neighbouring Arab states do not have higher stakes. The emergence of Hamas as a political entity in the power sharing formula has further complicated the already complex situation.
The resolution of the Palestinian issue is imperative, as states need to revisit their policies regarding their indifference to the conflict and the state terrorism committed by Israel. Recently, the General Assembly, in its informal meeting, did not even pass a resolution to condemn the Israeli aggression against Palestinians. Pakistan’s UN ambassador, Masood Khan, at the UN General Assembly meeting, highlighted Pakistan’s concerns regarding grave human rights violations in occupied Palestinian territory by neglecting the established norms of international humanitarian law. Though world-over protests have continued to support Palestinians, these protests are not enough to make Israel comply with the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law. This will only set a precedent for other states to resolve their conflicts by resorting to disproportionate and lethal use of force by making the UN irrelevant in preserving global peace and security.

The writer works at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) and can be reached at samanz.pk@gmail.com