The US-led international order was established based on justice and equality. However, the Israeli war crimes in Gaza have exposed the hypocrisy of the Western institutions and international order.
The Cracks in the US-Led International Order
Israeli War Crimes and Western Complicity
Israel initiated its ongoing violent genocidal operations in Gaza under the veneer of eliminating Hamas. However, the civilian population of the Gaza Strip has been deliberately targeted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Reports suggest that more than 56000 Palestinian civilians, including 18000 children and a huge number of women, have been killed by the IDF. International media have also reported many cases of burning Palestinian civilians. Over two million Palestinian civilians have been forcibly displaced.
Moreover, the Zionist army has also targeted civilian infrastructure – including homes, hospitals, mosques, churches, and refugee camps. More than 90 percent of the Gaza homes have been destroyed and demolished by the IDF. The Zionist state has also targeted welfare organizations and their staff. According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), Israel intentionally attacked the aid workers working in the Gaza Strip. In March, the IDF fired warning shots near a diplomatic delegation in the occupied West Bank.
Despite all these war crimes, the United States, the pseudo-champion of human rights, demonstrated unwavering support for Israel. The Zionist state has received unprecedented diplomatic, military, and financial support from the United States throughout this time. Washington even sabotaged all the efforts to make peace in the Middle East. It vetoed multiple UN resolutions, seeking a humanitarian pause in the Israel-Hamas war. In addition, the incumbent US President Donald Trump proposed an evacuation plan for Gaza to perpetuate Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory.
Israel’s actual ambition is to establish ‘Greater Israel’, a plan that involves the occupation of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Palestine, in the Middle East. Over the past few decades, the United States and many European states have shown unequivocal and unwavering support for this Israeli ambition. The recent US bombing of the Iranian nuclear facilities is also a substantiation of its support for the Israeli expansion plan.
Toward a Post-Western Multipolar World Order
This Israeli ambition holds appalling ramifications for the whole world. The United Nations has repeatedly warned of impending humanitarian crisis and famine in the Palestinian territory due to Israel’s continuous obstruction of food aid and its use of starvation as a weapon of war. These Israeli moves are deliberate violations of international humanitarian law. 45 countries have filed a case of genocide against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). However, the ICJ has failed to enforce accountability. The Western nations have also enabled impunity for the Zionist state by vetoing UN resolutions, persistent flows of military and financial aid, and undermining the International Criminal Court’s investigations.
Despite international condemnation, Israel continues to control Gaza and the West Bank. The Zionist regime has also made some legal maneuvers to further expedite its war crimes in Gaza. The new amendment to Israel’s ‘Unlawful Combatants Law’ provides the state with the authority to incarcerate and detain people without providing them any access to legal counsel for 75 days. This has even put the closest allies of the Zionist state in an uneasy position. Some of the European nations, including Germany and the UK, have warned that the obstruction of humanitarian aid to Palestinians by the IDF could violate international law. Many international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and the OHCHR, have reported international law violations by the IDF. The 2024 report of the Amnesty International has called this a watershed moment.
These reports and events speak volumes about the failure of the so-called rule-based international order. It has once again reinforced the Global South’s stance regarding the inefficacy of Western institutions. The failure of the US-led international order has further paved the way for a new multipolar world order, led by Russia, China, and the middle powers. The United States, EU, and the Western media are complicit in the deaths of scores of Palestinian civilians, hastening the decline of the US hegemony over the globe. The rapid expansion of the BRICS and the increasing influence of Beijing and Moscow shows that the Israeli and US violence in the Middle East and Global South have pushed these countries towards an inclusive and egalitarian international system led by Russia, China, and the Middle powers.
Taut Bataut – is a researcher and writer that publishes on South Asian geopolitics
