Sharon Zhang
Truthout / September 24, 2024
Experts throughout the UN are warning that world order “stands upon the edge of a knife”.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a stark warning on Tuesday that the world has entered an “age of impunity” as Israel’s genocide in Gaza — and now, escalation against Lebanon — continues without consequence, despite the clear ability of world powers to stop the atrocities.
In his address at the opening of this year’s session of the United Nations General Assembly, Guterres said the widespread abuses of international humanitarian law that the world has witnessed over the past year are now threatening the basis of the UN charter and international order.
Immunity for such abuses is now the norm, he said, as world powers have refused to stop the “non-stop nightmare” in Gaza and Israel’s aggression that has put Lebanon “at the brink” of becoming “another Gaza.” He also raised atrocities being committed against Ukraine and the people of Sudan, where a famine and civil war rage on.
“The level of impunity in the world is politically indefensible and morally intolerable. Today, a growing number of governments and others feel entitled to a ‘get out of jail free’ card,” said Guterres. “They can thumb their nose at international humanitarian law. They can invade another country, lay waste to whole societies, or utterly disregard the welfare of their own people. And nothing will happen. We see this age of impunity everywhere.”
The UN chief called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and condemned the international bodies allowing Israel to continue its illegal settler projects, ethnic cleansing and aggression. These actions are stripping Palestinians of all rights and dignity, he warned, adding that Israel’s atrocities in Gaza are unlike anything else he has seen in his years as UN chief.
“We are in a purgatory of polarity. And in this purgatory, more and more countries are filling the spaces of geopolitical divides, doing whatever they want with no accountability,” he said. “That is why it is more important than ever to reaffirm the Charter, to respect international law, to support and implement decisions of international courts, and to reinforce human rights in the world. Anywhere and everywhere.”
The UN chief’s bleak warnings come as Israel has massively escalated its violence against Lebanon in the past week. After nearly a year of genocide in Gaza, Israeli officials have pledged a “new phase” of military bombardment; on Monday alone, Israeli forces killed at least 558 people in Lebanon, including 50 children, and injured 1,800 more. This bombing campaign came just days after Israel killed dozens and injured thousands in a series of device explosion attacks.
Last week, a group of UN experts put out a similar missive warning of the collapse of the international humanitarian system. In a statement, the group noted that nearly two months have passed since the International Court of Justice ordered an end to Israel’s occupation, ethnic cleansing and apartheid in Palestine — oppression that is being made possible by powerful states like the U.S.
They called on civil society and human rights organizations to do everything they could to pressure political leaders to act. “It is time to knock on the doors of every political leader and responsible official ministry across the world to bring an end to Israel’s illegal occupation, apartheid, oppression of, and onslaught against the Palestinian people, and ultimately ensure truth, justice and accountability,” the group said.
Israel’s actions have rapidly pushed world order to the “edge of a knife,” they said.
“Failure to act now jeopardizes the entire edifice of international law and rule of law in world affairs,” the experts said. “The world stands upon the edge of a knife: Either we travel collectively towards a future of just peace and lawfulness — or hurtle towards anarchy and dystopia, and a world where might makes right.”
Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering politics, climate and labor
