In one 24-hour period, the nature of the Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people plunged to even deeper depths of inhumanity and crossed every red line of international law, with complete impunity.

International law doesn’t prevent the taking of life, however it does give clear guidance on who are protected persons, and how they must be protected. 

Images from Al Shifa hospital, and the details of the two-week rampage of medieval  depravity, should have brought the world to a standstill.

Since October 7, many of us thought we had seen every type of carnage imaginable until images of human beings tied up, shot, burned and torn apart by heavy vehicles began to be shared.

There were corpses of bound prisoners, civilian women and children and medical staff, who were deliberately targeted while they tried to tend to the sick and dying as their hospital was being burned. 

The Israeli government bombed the Iranian Embassy in Syria with intent and without apology. This is utterly unprecedented. Every embassy was left standing after WW1 and WW2. When America “accidentally” bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999, there was immediate and comprehensive restitution.

The next day Joe Biden green-lighted fighter jets and even more bombs for Israel. His spokespeople talked about this breach of the ceasefire’s mandate being within some frame of made-up rules of ceasefire. These rules exist only in their heads. They seek the comfort of inane rhetoric, while the lives of Palestinians are screaming into their almost invisible conscience. 

To do otherwise was considered beyond the pale, as international norms rely on states having spaces for diplomacy and conversation. Even when at war, states do not bomb each other’s embassies.

Later that day Benjamin Netanyahu, whose mental state is now being openly questioned by Israeli politicians, made Al Jazeera an official target of his regime. At least 95 journalists have been killed by Israel since October 7 2023. More than all of the journalists killed in every war since 1900. The unofficial policy of targeting journalists is now being claimed.

Then Israel bombed World Central Mission food aid workers and their driver, who were in a “deconflicted” zone, in a clearly branded vehicle, and had provided prior coordinates to Israel. For weeks Israel has bombed civilians standing in food lines, with the term “flour massacre” entering our lexicon of despair. World Central Mission has now withdrawn from the Palestinian zone of Israeli enforced famine.

On 25 March the United Nations Security Council voted for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine. Sadly, it was not a moment of triumph for the international protection of law and innocence.

The next day Joe Biden green-lighted fighter jets and even more bombs for Israel. His spokespeople talked about this breach of the ceasefire’s mandate being within some frame of made-up rules of ceasefire. These rules exist only in their heads. They seek the comfort of inane rhetoric, while the lives of Palestinians are screaming into their almost invisible conscience. Palestinian and Arab lives do not matter to US administrations.

The Geneva Convention, Vienna Convention, international human rights, humanitarian and criminal law have all been clearly broken. They were meant to be non-negotiable. They were meant to be universally defended. 

Responsibility for this genocide, and its increasing intensity, lies on the Whitehouse Lawn. However, all states must do more. Diplomatic expulsions, boycotts, divestment and sanctions, which seem achievable regarding other states, remain elusive when considered for Israel.

This conflict will end with the destruction of Palestinian lives, culture and hope. With it will be the legitimacy of international law and order, which without enforceable protections, is proving its Western white guardians to be racist, ineffectual and redundant. God help us all.