ALTHOUGH tens of thousands of people in Gaza have been slaughtered and starved by Israel, the UN has been unable to take any practical steps to stop this butchery. In this regard, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, has urged the Security Council not to remain a “bystander”. Mr Ahmad was briefing the UNSC after Pakistan assumed the Council’s rotating presidency. He noted that the UNSC’s failure to enforce its own decisions “undermines the Council’s own authority and credibility”. Even beyond the Palestinian occupied territories, in major recent global conflicts, the UN has been unable to play any worthwhile role. For example, the war in Ukraine rages on, while the UN was unable to do much to end hostilities after India attacked Pakistan in May, or after Israel attacked Iran last month. This shows that the post-World War II ‘rules-based’ international order is practically dead, and the big powers, particularly the US and its European allies, are to blame for its collapse. The US has been instrumental in vetoing resolutions that have censured Israel at the UNSC. When powerful states protect allies guilty of egregious excesses, there is little the UN can do.

For the international order to be salvaged, the rules must apply to all. Aggressors must be punished, and vulnerable populations protected from genocide and violence. To treat the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an attack on the ‘free world’, while ignoring the Israeli occupation of Palestine points to the hypocrisy that has helped paralyse the global order. Perhaps a new order — based on justice and respect for humanitarian values — is required, where militarily and financially powerful states are not allowed to bully weaker countries, and where the Global South has a seat at the table. For now, the primary goal of the international community must be to immediately end the Gaza slaughter.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2025