Rarely has the world seen members of parliament cheering and crying in joy after passing a death penalty. But everything is possible in a world where a genocidal occupying state like Israel is allowed to fulfil its ambitions with little fear of consequence. A few days ago, the Knesset approved a new death penalty bill wherein Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted by military courts of carrying out deadly attacks classified as ‘terrorism’ will face the death penalty as a default sentence. Israelis will not be given this sentence for the same crimes. This is essentially he codification of discrimination into law. Even though the UN has criticised the move, we have all seen in recent years how Israel has been allowed to violate international law with impunity. The apparent disdain that Israel’s allies harbour for Palestine has left little room for accountability. While the occupying force has never shied away from unleashing what many observers describe as war crimes, its aggression against Gaza since October 7, 2023, has laid bare the scale of its brutality. With this death penalty, Israel has pretty much given a legal cover to its crimes against the occupied.
In the last three years, Gaza has, in effect, been treated as a testing ground. The indiscriminate bombing has killed over 72,000 people, including children. Multiple independent assessments confirm that a vast majority of those killed are civilians. Among them are officials working for UNRWA, which has called for an investigation into the killing of nearly 400 of its staff in Gaza. Its outgoing commissioner-general has argued that Israel appeared to have “a licence to kill” in the besieged territory. It is almost impossible to ignore the moral failure of the international community. People in Gaza had to live-stream their own destruction to alert the world to what was unfolding, and yet they were met with what can only be described as a criminal silence. Even today, the pattern continues. Israel’s aggressive campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon has involved strikes on civilian infrastructure, while narratives are simultaneously shaped online to discredit victims. Its actions beyond Gaza, including its war on Iran, show just how rapidly the region is sliding towards wider instability.
The selective application of international norms is what has helped Israel become the monster it is. Demands such as stripping a sovereign nation of its deterrence capabilities cannot be invoked as justification for unleashing full-scale military aggression. Nor can the language of ‘security’ be allowed to mask collective punishment. That UNRWA and others are now raising their voices more forcefully is welcome, but it is also long overdue. The world cannot continue to look away while legal frameworks are weaponised, civilian populations are targeted and accountability is evaded. The question is no longer whether violations are taking place; it is whether the world has the will to confront them. It is 2026 – and the abyss is staring right back at the world.
