Buildings destroyed by Israeli bombing in Gaza. Picture by Tasnim News Agency. Source: Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0
On October 7, 2023, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), the group that governs the Palestinian territory of Gaza, breached the barrier that has surrounded the densely populated area for the last 16 years, preventing the free flow of people and goods. The militants then launched an attack on 22 nearby Israeli settlements, towns, and military bases, killing around 1,200 civilians and soldiers and taking at least 199 hostages.
Many governments around the world have condemned the attack as a war crime and act of terror, while other governments blamed Israel for setting the stage for these attacks to take place. Since then, many governments have described Israel’s response as disproportionate: the official death toll now exceeds 40,000 Palestinians killed, including over 15,000 children — some experts estimate the actual number to be over four times higher.
For more, read Global Voices’ previous Special Coverage: Israel’s war on Gaza
The assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas Political Bureau, in Tehran on 31 July 2024, and a key Hezbollah military commander in Beirut on 30 July have significantly escalated tensions in the region. These targeted killings, combined with the failure to implement a ceasefire, are raising the risk of a war that could engulf the whole region, with potentially far-reaching consequences for global peace and stability.
Israel’s actions, including its military occupation, settlement expansion, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and recurrent operations in Gaza and the West Bank, have drawn widespread accusations of human rights violations and defiance of international law. This includes an International Court of Justice (ICJ) initial ruling on an ongoing case finding it plausible that Israel is committing genocide and an application by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for arrest warrants against three Hamas leaders — including Haniyeh — and two Israeli officials — including Prime Minister Netanyahu — for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The arrest warrants include one for Mohammed Deif, Commander-in-Chief of Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. the Israeli army claims to have assassinated Deif in an airstrike on July 13 in the Al Mawasi humanitarian safe zone in Gaza — one that killed at least 90 people in a massacre described by United Nations official Scott Anderson as “some of the most horrific scenes I have seen in my nine months in Gaza.”
Israel's military operations and targeted assassinations in neighboring countries continue despite United Nations Security Council resolutions, global calls for a ceasefire, and repeated condemnations from international humanitarian organizations who have labeled them as violations of international humanitarian law. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels, with an illegal blockade that has led to severe shortages of vital supplies and the threat of a poliovirus outbreak, exacerbating the suffering of the population, with nine out of 10 people internally displaced, many of them multiple times.
The international community’s failure to enforce a ceasefire or hold Israel accountable has highlighted the limitations of global institutions in managing the crises. The United Nations has failed to mediate effectively, with its resolutions ignored, and global and regional players have not put pressure on Israel to accept or implement ceasefire resolutions adopted by the UNSC or proposed by mediators. This raises significant questions about the effectiveness of international law in protecting civilians in conflict zones.
In this special coverage, we explore the regional and global implications as well as the challenges facing international law in addressing the ongoing crisis.
Stories about A region on the brink: The global implications of the war on Gaza from July, 2024
Singapore files charges against three women for ‘illegal’ pro-Palestine rally
"The simple act of Singaporeans peacefully delivering a letter to the President’s office must be respected and protected."
