Evolving scenario centring Palestine because of Gaza

Geo-strategic analysts have been underlining over the past few weeks how the United Nations is failing to resolve conflicts around the world, specifically in the Middle East. Its key peacemaking principle of multilateralism seems to have lost its legitimacy and efficacy in an era of extremism and polarisation.

At this point one needs to refer to the comment made by UN Secretary-General António Guterres that we must remember that "Multilateralism is not an option but a necessity as we build back a better world with more equality and resilience and a more sustainable world." He is part of a paradigm of multiple actors on the international stage, and he will not be the last. However, during his tenure as political leader of the United Nations, Guterres has faced significant roadblocks towards such a necessity, particularly in the need for humanitarian aid to work positively without hindrance. However, failure to act in this regard has emerged largely from specific dissenting UN Member States whose power and influence have hindered constructive progress.

We need to recall the peace process pertaining to Palestine. It began with the 1991 Madrid Agreement and continued with the Camp David Agreement in 1993, the Peace Treaty between Israel and Jordan in 1994, and the Cairo Agreement on Palestinian Autonomy the same year. However, in the contemporary scenario denotations of fundamentalism appeared to have created not only conflicts and poverty but also important osmotic effects of blood, violence and implacable hatred instead of peace and happiness. 

Guterres has made repeated calls for multilateral aid and collaborative work in the region, calling at a recent media stakeout for Israel to allow UN humanitarian aid into Gaza, which he said had been blocked "for over three months." Israel, however, considers the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) -- a US-Israeli organisation as the only workable aid platform. Shahar Segal, spokesperson for the GHF has called GHF the only viable source of food in the area, and the only "right and possible way" to deliver aid "without feeding Hamas' terror machine."

The US similarly has endorsed the organistion, also using its Security Council veto power to block a resolution that would require lifting aid restrictions in Gaza. This standstill has not only fostered conflict between the various groups within the UN, but it has weakened the very principle of multilateralism that the UN was founded on in efforts to prevent another world war.

The rejection of multilateralism has not been surprising. This approach has been reflected in an observation made by the Representative for the United States in a recent General Assembly meeting about Responsibility to Protect, a doctrine meant to prevent crimes against humanity. 

This isolationist mentality is just one of many indications of a global loss of trust in international law and multilateralism. Between America's imposition of sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and repeated rejection of UN attempts to provide humanitarian aid, many governments have begun to delegitimise international actors like the UN and international courts of law.

However, for multilateralism to successfully accomplish its goals of unity and collective action towards peace, all countries have an obligation to put aside national motivations for the sake of global welfare that affects all people, including themselves.

Additionally, the UN must recentre marginalised countries, like those in the global South who have been undervalued and discounted in international discussions, to promote a stronger buy-in for all actors.

David Gritten of the BBC has informed that the UK and 27 other countries have called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, where they say the suffering of civilians has "reached new depths".

Israel launched the war on Gaza after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing at least 1,129 people and taking 251 others captive. Fifty captives remain in Gaza, but fewer than half are thought to be alive.

Israel's military offensive has killed more than 59,105 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry-- mostly women and children.

The United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada and 21 other countries, plus the European Union have said in a joint statement that the war "must end now". The signatories have also noted that "the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths," and also urged a negotiated ceasefire, the release of captives held by Palestinian fighters and the free flow of much-needed aid. They have also condemned "the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food". The UN and the Gaza Health Ministry have recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food since late May, when Israel began easing a more than two-month total blockade.

There have been many international statements condemning Israel's tactics in Gaza during the past 21 months of its war with Hamas but this recent Declaration is notable. The siginatories are the foreign ministers of the UK and 27 other nations, including Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland.

The statement begins by declaring that "the war in Gaza must end now". It then warns: "the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity. We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food. It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid."

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has also told the House of Commons a "litany of horrors" was taking place in Gaza, including strikes that have killed "desperate, starving children". Announcing an extra £40m of humanitarian assistance for Gaza this year, Lammy said he was "a steadfast supporter of Israel's security and its right to exist" but the government's actions were "doing untold damage to Israel's standing in the world and undermining Israel's long-term security". Speaking in Parliament, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy thanked the United States, Qatar and Egypt for their diplomatic efforts to try to end the war. "There is no military solution," Lammy said. "The next ceasefire must be the last ceasefire."

The World Food Programme has also warned that Gaza's hunger crisis had "reached new levels of desperation and people are dying from lack of humanitarian assistance. Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment."

Jaroslav Lukiv of BBC has recently informed that France will officially recognise a Palestinian state in September.  This will make France the first G7 nation to do so. The G7 is a group of major industrialised nations, which alongside France includes the US, the UK, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan.

In a post on X, President Emmanuel Macron has said that the formal announcement would be made at a session of the UN General Assembly in New York. "The urgent need today is for the war in Gaza to end and for the civilian population to be rescued. Peace is possible. We need an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza" he wrote. In his post on X, Macron also wrote: "True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the State of Palestine. We must also guarantee the demilitarisation of Hamas, and secure and rebuild Gaza. Finally, we must build the State of Palestine, ensure its viability, and ensure that by accepting its demilitarization and fully recognizing Israel, it contributes to the security of all in the Middle East. There is no alternative."

Palestinian officials have welcomed Macron's decision, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the move "rewards terror" following Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack in Israel. The US "strongly rejects" Macron's announcement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, calling the decision "reckless".

Macron has also attached a letter to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas confirming his decision. Responding to Macron's announcement, Abbas' deputy Hussein al-Sheikh according to the AFP has said, "This position reflects France's commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people's rights to self-determination and the establishment of our independent State".

Israel and Hamas have been engaged in ceasefire talks, but there appears to be no breakthrough, and it is not clear whether any truce would bring the war to a lasting halt. Netanyahu has repeatedly asserted that expanding Israel's military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas in negotiations.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu has written in a post on X: "We strongly condemn President Macron's decision to recognise a Palestinian state next to Tel Aviv in the wake of the  October 7 massacre. A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel -- not to live in peace beside it. Let's be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel," Netanyahu added.

Currently, the State of Palestine is recognised by more than 140 of the 193 member states of the UN. A few European Union countries, including Spain and Ireland, are among them.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he will hold an "emergency call" with French and German leaders to discuss "what we can do urgently to stop the killing". Statehood is an "inalienable right of the Palestinian people", Starmer has said, adding that a ceasefire would "put us on a path to the recognition of a Palestinian state and a Two-State solution".

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry has praised France's decision, saying it "reaffirms the international community's consensus on the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state".

One needs to conclude by observing that the world will be carefully monitoring the evolving scenario regarding Palestine. One can only hope that international human rights will prevail to ensure peace in the region. 

Muhammad Zamir, a former Ambassador is an analyst specialised in foreign affairs, right to information and good governance. muhammadzamir0@gmail.com