Thanks to social media, the world has borne witness to entire families being wiped out due to the unrelenting Israeli bombardments.

Nothing and nobody has been spared the carnage.

Children, the elderly, schools, hospitals, and the images of defenceless premature newborns slowly dying, breath by breath, due to the lack of oxygen because of the acute fuel shortages imposed by Israel, will be impossible to erase.

The world has been moved by the heart-wrenching accounts of women, men, and children trapped in a spiral of bombardments, shelling, and military attacks.

Daily they have woken up to news of overnight bombings, and to images of seriously injured people — many with limbs gone — and bodies being pulled out from under the rubble of what was once their homes.

Weeks of widespread shelling and airstrikes on refugee camps, schools, and hospitals where internally displaced people were sheltering, and residential buildings have killed more than 15,000 people.

More than 50% of housing units in Gaza have been destroyed since the start of the conflict.

Gazan officials indicated on November 27 that more than 14,800 people have been killed, including about 6,000 children and 4,000 women.

Palestinians in Gaza have been left without food, water, medicine, and fuel for weeks.

The United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said recently that Gaza is becoming a “graveyard for children”.

In the mix of this horror, humanitarian agencies and their selfless, courageous staff in Gaza have been on the front line, desperately trying to bring a sliver of humanity and dignity amidst the crisis.

Sadly, too many humanitarian workers have died in Gaza in the line of duty, including local staff in agencies and organisations supported by ActionAid.

This includes three doctors who were killed in Al-Shifa Hospital, a long-standing partner of ActionAid that provides maternity services in northern Gaza.

ActionAid is supporting Palestinian organisations and groups inside Gaza that are bringing assistance and protection to the population.

Breach of law 

Our urgent aim is to see a full ceasefire and stop the relentless attacks that are rapidly transforming the strip into a shattered piece of land on the shoreline of the Mediterranean.

ActionAid condemns any violations of international law, violence, attacks on civilians, and kidnapping. We unequivocally condemn what happened in Israel on October 7. But Israel’s response, which has claimed the lives of over 6,000 innocent children, is wildly disproportionate.

So far there has been an appalling lack of meaningful engagement from influential states on alleged Israeli violations of international humanitarian law throughout the occupied Palestinian territory.

Growing allegations of war crimes by Israeli forces in Gaza have been met with effective silence by a range of third states, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

Indeed, these and others have continued to offer Israel political, financial — and in some cases, military — assistance and support in its assault on Gaza and occupation of Palestinian territory generally. Ireland’s stance in favour of respect for international humanitarian law has been welcome.

On top of blockades since 2008, Gaza has endured five wars, two major escalations, and other attacks from air, land, and sea.

Yet, the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into alleged war crimes and other atrocities opened in 2019 has made painfully slow progress, undermined by inadequate resources and a lack of political support.

This silence and inaction stand in stark contrast with Ukraine, where an unprecedented number of mostly European ICC member countries asked to open an investigation soon after the Russian invasion of the country.

ActionAid women-led and youth-led partners work for social, gender, and climate justice in several contexts where there are authoritarian repressive regimes, political violence, and war.

They tell us that without justice for past events, even if the violence stops, there will not be lasting peace.

This is relevant now for Gaza and the West Bank.

A permanent ceasefire in Gaza must be the first step in addressing the end of Israel’s military occupation, and fulfillment of the Palestinian right to self-determination to determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development by way of a just and durable solution based on UN resolutions.

This process needs to go hand in hand with prompt, thorough, and effective investigations by qualified and independent bodies, including the International Criminal Court, of all credible and official accusations of current and past atrocities.

The silence of most Western governments is unsettling and will have devastating consequences for our common humanity and understanding of the rule of law.

On October 26, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” in Gaza.

However, EU members such as Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, and Germany abstained.

The United States voted against and had previously vetoed a similar resolution in the Security Council.

This status quo requires a rethinking of the current global representation and governance.

Meanwhile, the world watches one of the most devastating and cruel humanitarian crises in decades.

• Karol Balfe is CEO of ActionAid Ireland