As the world watches the destruction of Gaza unfold in real time, the legitimacy of international law faces a crisis more profound than any it has seen since its post-WWII codification.

The issue is no longer simply that the law is being abused – it is that it is being rendered irrelevant. When war criminals are not only unpunished but continue to lead powerful nations, when mass atrocities are met with rhetorical condemnation but no meaningful action, the law itself begins to collapse under the weight of its own hypocrisy.

The most acute case in our time is Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza. As of mid-2025, tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed, entire neighbourhoods reduced to rubble, and essential infrastructure — hospitals, schools, water networks — intentionally targeted or indiscriminately destroyed. Leading international human rights organisations, UN agencies and respected legal scholars have described the situation as a genocide in progress.

Social media have documented events in real time. One of the most harrowing was a recent video from Gaza: an elderly man who managed to reach the front of a food queue, collapsed and died on the spot.

And yet, nothing changes.

The International Court of Justice has found that there is a “plausible case” that Israel is committing genocide, a finding reinforced by South Africa’s legal filing and subsequent orders for provisional measures. But Israel has not complied, and powerful states, especially the US, have blocked any........

© Pearls and Irritations