This op-ed was originally published at Middle East Eyes
Just last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations: "Israel seeks peace. Israel yearns for peace. Israel has made peace and will make peace again."
The irony of then approving operation "New Order" from a hotel room in New York while attending the UN General Assembly is not lost on the rest of us.
While Israeli jets dropped over 80 bunker busters on a densely populated area of Beirut, the International Committee of the Red Cross, along with Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan and South Africa, launched a global initiative on the sidelines of the UN to renew their commitment to international humanitarian law (IHL) in warfare.
Nevertheless, Netanyahu stood behind the podium and claimed to seek peace following the week-long carnage his soldiers carried out in Lebanon. To the people of this region, this is emblematic of the power the UN holds to prevent war: none.
It is clear that Israel believes it is above the rest of the world and that the rest of the world - with all its power - cannot, or will not, take any real action that brings this rogue state to fall into line.
Indeed, the US bemoans Netanyahu's regressions and decries his behaviour.
And yet, the Israeli government can secure an additional $8.7bn in aid the same weekend it drops tonnes of bombs on civilians in Beirut.
Deliberate complicity
Evidently, the willpower to punish human rights violations is only present when it aligns with a state's national interests. The International Criminal Court (ICC), for instance, has indicted 44 individuals to date, and all 44 have been from the African continent.
This means that the massacre of hundreds of thousands of people across the region at the hands of the Israeli war machine is yet to harm any western state's national interests.
The purpose of IHL and the emerging doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect underscored a global commitment to limiting the tyranny of states and prioritising humanity above all - and yet the international community simply watches on...