ISRAEL AND ALLIES WILL ULTIMATELY BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR GAZA

For the umpteenth time, Israel has shoved a middle finger at the United Nations. The Jewish state’s parliament, Knesset, this week shrugged off impassioned international plea from allies and foes alike when it banned – apartheid style – the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

The ban will take effect in 90 days, and the implications are simply too dire to contemplate. Israel’s escalated war on the UN follows closely on Tel Aviv’s recent declaration of the UN chief Antonio Guterres as a persona non grata in the country.

Now, for well over seven decades, UNRWA has been a refuge for millions of Palestinian refugees who were displaced violently to give way for the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel in May 1948.

UNRWA has continuously provided the beleaguered Palestinians who are officially “stateless” with, among others, the much-needed aid, schooling, shelter, security and healthcare. The UN agency created a much-needed sense of belonging for the seemingly unwanted Palestinians. Until this day, millions of Palestinians regard UNRWA as their collective reason to live and let live.

Since Israel’s war on Gaza on October 7 last year that was triggered by an unprecedented attack on the Israeli soil by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, UNRWA has taken a centre-stage as virtually the only sanctuary for the besieged millions of Palestinians whose lives literally resemble hell on earth.

UNRWA employs some 13 000 Palestinians, thereby in addition to their chief mandate to provide food and shelter, serve as one of the leading employers as well. Israel’s war on Gaza, which has degenerated into a “full-blown genocide”, according to South Africa and many countries, has inevitably targeted UNRWA as it did Hamas. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has in addition to murdering more than 43 000 Palestinians also killed 223 UNRWA staff members. The IDF also destroyed or damaged two-thirds of UNRWA’s life-saving facilities in Gaza. The menacing US-backed army has also wounded more than 100 000 Palestinians, many missing limbs. Tens of thousands of Palestinian men, women and children remain unaccounted for, trapped under heaps of rubble as they mercilessly wilt away.

The ban on UNRWA, which Israel falsely accuses of being a front for Hamas, has triggered international condemnation led by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. But it is Palestine’s top envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, whose words appear to capture the true essence of the unfolding tragedy that has befell his people. He told the UN Security Council this week: “Israel has crossed every red line, broken every rule, defied every prohibition. When is enough really enough? When are you going to act? You are the Security Council. You have to reach every single one who is in pain among the Palestinians. That is your duty.” He further noted that Israel  has “killed, detained and tortured UN staff and UN peace-keepers” – with impunity, I may add.

Sadly, the Palestinian people in Gaza and in exile in the neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and everywhere across the Middle East and the world feel just the same as Mansour. The UN Security Council has noticeably failed to hold Israel accountable, thanks to the diplomatic and military protection of the US – one of the organ’s only five permanent members that possess the privilege of a veto power.

The US foreign policy has previously been found wanting on numerous occasions. But the Gaza genocide, for which many states find Washington complicit in the war crime, has exposed America’s cunning public stance on the plight of Palestine. The demise of Gaza has laid bare the cruel side of geopolitics as Washington steadfastly shields Tel Aviv from scrutiny and accountability through the use – or abuse – of diplomacy. The US resolve to arm the IDF with weapons of mass destruction that has reduced to rubble every semblance of Gaza infrastructure whilst simultaneously purporting to have a heart for the Palestinians is a sad indictment on America’s humane side. For, it is the US that has blocked every UNSC resolution that sought to protect Palestinians from enormous harm in the form of Israel’s collective punishment. The US had also used its veto power to thwart the UNSC’s effort to pass a resolution recognizing the state of Palestine. Clearly, evidence point to a US foreign policy characterized by double-standards, and constantly speaking in a forked tongue. Methinks the emperor is naked.

I am not gloating about Washing’s poor foreign policy judgment. Far from it. The US` has had, and continues to have advantage over the state of Israel in a way that no other country worldwide has. Ideally, the US should be persuading Israel to abide by the dictates of international humanitarian laws and the UN Charter.

As the world’s only remaining superpower since the end of the Cold War, the US has had the advantage to play a protagonist role in global affairs. However, blind loyalty to Israel in particular has blemished the reputation of a great country. Across the Middle East and the international community, many no longer regard the US as an honest peace-broker. The emergence of the global south will continue to challenge the US hegemony, and this does not bode well for a once thriving democracy and many regarded as a blue print for peace, security and development.

Soon, there will come a time when Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hauled before an international court to account for his deeds. As the international world order undergoes changes of great significance, power relations will also be reset. The reconfiguration of the global order is inevitable and happening relentlessly at this juncture. It is hard to imagine how Israel will escape accountability for what SA has labelled “genocide”, and how the US will shrug off allegations of deliberate complicity to the unfolding darkest episode in the history of humanity.