© Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty ImagesPalestinians inspect rubble and debris at the site of Israeli strikes at the Nuseirat refugee camp • Central Gaza Strip • March 23, 2025
In relaunching the Gaza war last week after the breakdown of ceasefire negotiations,
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks set to deliver on his threat to Hamas: "The gates of Gaza will be locked, and the gates of hell will open."But this latest round of fighting isn't just an unspeakable tragedy for Gaza and its people. It also gives the world a snapshot of the future - of the post,
post-Second World War international order in an era of conquest.The American guarantee of a predictable and stable world is over. The Trump administration now questions basic norms governing international relations.
The 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, for instance, protects civilians in time of war, including those in occupied territories, and prohibits the forced displacement of civilians.
Article Two of the United Nations Charter not only prohibits states from annexing territory by threat or conquest but serves as a bedrock principle of international law and modern history.
These norms were birthed from the ashes of two world wars, and
they represent collective values, not guaranteed outcomes. Obviously, history demonstrates that many countries have fallen short of their obligations, but these aspirations still provide
an international lodestar. This order now has devolved to the point where states regard basic tenets of international law
as inconvenient constraints on their imperial designs.
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