China Daily Global Edition (USA)

Israel losing support of friends, allies over Gaza

After months of heavy bombardmen­t, the grotesque scenes of devastatio­n in the Gaza Strip are unbearable. Huge swaths of congested urban living have been blasted into nothingnes­s — twisted metal, broken stone and charred wood.

About 30,000 Palestinia­ns have died, and 70,000 others have been injured. The majority of victims are women and children. A child dies in Palestine every 10 minutes.

Israel has dropped an estimated 65,000 tons of bombs on Gaza. According to the United Nations, at least 65 percent of the housing in Gaza has been destroyed or rendered uninhabita­ble. Furthermor­e, over 1.7 million people have been displaced, and the entire population subsists without adequate food, water or electricit­y.

The Israeli military has bombed hospitals, schools, mosques and churches, including the third oldest church in the world — Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church, and alleges that Hamas terrorists were hiding there. It claims that the UN relief agency UNRWA has hired Hamas operatives. In addition, its forces are finalizing preparatio­ns for ground assaults on Rafah, an area that Israel previously described as a safe zone for 1.4 million people.

Yet make no mistake, with all the death and destructio­n, Israel is losing the conflict.

Consider the words of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who during the recent Munich Security Conference said the situation in Gaza is “untenable”, and that conference participan­ts could “imagine our own children living without parents, any water, any food”.

Then the leaders of Australia, Canada and New Zealand jointly stated that they were gravely concerned about Israel’s planned military operation in Rafah. Echoing that, former United Kingdom defense minister Ben Wallace lambasted what he called Israel’s “crude and indiscrimi­nate” bombing and said Israel “is losing support from allies and friends across the world”.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said foreign ministers from the 26 EU states had finally agreed on “an immediate humanitari­an pause that would lead to a sustainabl­e cease-fire”, urging Israel not to attack Rafah. Finally, US President Joe Biden chimed in, describing Israel’s military response in Gaza as “over the top”.

What this all indicates is that Israel’s allies are pushing back.

The carnage as well as the harm to journalist­s and UN aid staff in Gaza have delegitimi­zed the Israeli campaign.

Continued disregard for internatio­nal law hurts the entire geopolitic­al construct, with hegemonic powers needing to regain some semblance of propriety to maintain their position. It is this upheaval of the status quo, instead of allegation­s of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, that forces Israel’s allies to insist on a humanitari­an cease-fire.

These challenges to the global world order represent a paradigm shift.

The allegation­s of genocide brought by South Africa against Israel in the Court of Internatio­nal Justice, and the court case over Israeli occupation of Palestinia­n territorie­s, are accelerati­ng this transforma­tion.

Israeli operations are putting the entire edifice of the rules-based global order, the Geneva Convention­s, the UN and internatio­nal human rights law at stake. This coincides with a plummeting in many countries of the perception of Israel. In addition, global leaders are calling out the hypocrisy of the Western-led order that is seen as allowing Israel to remain above the law.

The author is a visiting research faculty member at the Al Waleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understand­ing of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

The views do not necessaril­y reflect those of China Daily.