Israel’s Seizure of Gaza City: A Blatant Defiance of Global Will

In a deeply disturbing move that underscores its increasing disregard for international norms, Israel has launched a full-scale operation to seize control of Gaza City — the most populous urban center in the besieged Palestinian enclave. This act, which comes in the wake of relentless bombardment and months of military siege, flies in the face of multiple United Nations resolutions and violates the basic tenets of international law and human rights. It is an egregious show of military might against a largely defenseless civilian population — a people who have already endured the brunt of a brutal war since October 2023.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 38,000 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, with over 70% of the casualties being women and children. The infrastructure of Gaza lies in ruins: schools, hospitals, and refugee shelters have been bombed indiscriminately. Now, with Israel moving to capture Gaza City completely — purportedly to “eliminate Hamas remnants” — the world is witnessing the final stages of a systematic assault on a city that once housed over 700,000 people.

This assault comes despite United Nations General Assembly resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire and calling for the protection of civilians. Most notably, UNGA Resolution ES-10/21, passed with overwhelming global support, urged Israel to halt its military actions and allow humanitarian aid to flow freely. Israel has ignored these appeals with impunity, emboldened by the diplomatic cover provided by key Western allies, particularly the United States, which has consistently vetoed any binding Security Council resolution that might hold Israel accountable.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has now sounded a chilling warning. In a recent statement, Türk condemned the Israeli move into Gaza City as “a serious escalation with catastrophic consequences for civilians.” He further warned that such actions could amount to war crimes under international humanitarian law, especially given the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure and the use of starvation as a method of warfare.

Despite these warnings, the Israeli military presses on, invoking the right to self-defense — a right that cannot, and must not, be twisted into a justification for collective punishment. Gaza has been turned into a graveyard for international law, where the principles of proportionality, distinction, and humanity have been systematically discarded.

The silence and inaction of the global powers in the face of such atrocities is nothing short of shameful. The United Nations was created to represent the collective will of the world’s people, and its repeated resolutions calling for restraint and peace must not be reduced to mere words. If Israel continues to act with impunity, and if the world remains indifferent to the cries of the people of Gaza, then we must question the very moral fabric of the international order.

History will not be kind to those who watched Gaza burn in silence.