NST Leader: Gaza ceasefire calls mean nothing without halting arms sales

New Straits Times

23-07-2025

FOREIGN ministers from 28 countries, mostly from the West, have condemned Israel for denying the Palestinians the human dignity they deserve, as they called for an immediate end to the atrocities there in a joint statement on Monday.
Israel must comply with its obligation under international humanitarian law, it went on to state the obvious. Isn't the statement 21 months too late? Why wait until the Israelis killed 59,000 Palestinians to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza?
And the irony is that some of the 28 countries are supplying weapons or weapon parts used to slaughter the Palestinians. Don't they realise the supply of arms is making them complicit in Israel's denial of Palestinian human dignity, not to mention their complicity in the genocide committed by the Zionist regime?
Let's be blunt: these so-called seekers of human dignity for the Palestinians are standing on the wrong side of history. You just can't call on Israel to end the Gaza war — oh how they abuse the word — while supplying the genocidal regime with weapons.
We have read such statements before, the most recent being in May — when the United Kingdom, France and Canada jointly threatened some unspecified action if Israel's onslaught continued. Expectedly, nothing happened and the Israelis went on to kill thousands of Palestinians.
Even those who were desperately seeking food aid were not spared. On Monday, Israel launched a ground assault on Deir al-Balah, the main hub of humanitarian aid, a day after killing 81 starving Palestinians seeking food, media reports said. The joint statement may have been motivated by the killing of food aid seekers.
The Israelis know that this statement, like the few that went before, was issued to appease a growing outrage among the domestic audience, including lawmakers.
If these nations are truly interested in getting Israel to treat the Palestinians with human dignity that they deserve, they must do three things.
One, stop supplying weapons to the genocidal Zionist regime. Two, hold Israeli leaders and their defence forces accountable for the genocide they are committing. Threatening or sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC) for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant is a clear breach of international law.
Three, stop giving diplomatic support to Israel until it civilises itself. We know that the United States doesn't care for the human dignity of the Palestinians, otherwise it wouldn't keep vetoing United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and West Bank. Or sanction the ICC and its officials or those who criticise Israel for the genocide it is committing. But nations like the UK and those in the European Union that peddle rules-based world order?
These have seen the genocide of Palestinians livestreamed. They know, too, the ethnic cleansing intent of Netanyahu and his ministers. Is this the reason for the occasional statements, an attempt to cleanse the conscience?
Again, they know, too, the "war" — the abused word again — didn't start on Oct 7, 2023. The catastrophe that is unfolding today was evident from the start of the stealth birth of Israel in 1948.