The UN in Gaza: When an institution becomes useless

The ongoing Israeli war on Gaza has once again exposed the UN as a paralyzed, ineffective institution incapable of upholding its own charter, let alone protecting the innocent. More than 61,000 Palestinians — most of them women and children — have so far been killed in an onslaught that has reduced the Gaza Strip to rubble. More than 110,000 people have been injured, while over 14,000 remain missing and are presumed dead.

Entire neighborhoods have been flattened. Hospitals, schools and UN shelters have been obliterated. And what has the UN done in response? Issued statements. Held meetings. Released press releases. In other words, nothing meaningful.

The international community is witnessing, in real time, the systematic destruction of a civilian population. Israeli forces have targeted hospitals where wounded children lie in intensive care. Journalists and humanitarian workers have been killed despite being clearly identified. UNRWA facilities — schools, clinics and warehouses — have been struck repeatedly, often despite prior notification of their coordinates to Israeli forces. More than 180 UN workers have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023 — the highest death toll of humanitarian workers in any conflict in the organization’s history.

And yet, despite these blatant violations of international law, the UN remains frozen in its tracks, incapable of taking decisive action. Why? Because the institution has become a hostage to geopolitics. The Security Council — designed to ensure global peace and security — has become a theater of power politics. Any resolution that dares to criticize or attempt to restrain Israel’s actions is immediately vetoed by the US, rendering international law effectively toothless.

This is not a failure of oversight. It is a failure of will, a failure of structure and a failure of purpose. The very mechanisms designed to hold aggressors accountable have been hijacked by those determined to protect them. In this case, the US government has used its veto power to shield Israel from scrutiny and responsibility — effectively making the UN complicit in its silence.

Despite Israel’s blatant violations of international law, the UN remains frozen in its tracks, incapable of taking decisive action

Hani Hazaimeh

Meanwhile, UNRWA — the only lifeline for more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza — is being dismantled from within. Western nations, under Israeli pressure and based on unproven allegations against a few employees, have suspended or cut funding to the agency altogether. The result? Starving families. Collapsing healthcare. Children deprived of education. These are not just policy decisions — they are death sentences for an already besieged population. Instead of defending its own agency and the people it serves, the UN appears to be surrendering.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued repeated warnings about the catastrophe in Gaza, but they have fallen on deaf ears. When he invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter in December 2023 — the first such move in decades — to draw attention to the crisis, the UNSC still failed to act. A US veto blocked a ceasefire resolution supported by more than 150 countries. The message was clear: even genocide can proceed uninterrupted, so long as one superpower permits it.

The consequences of this moral collapse are profound. Not only is the UN failing the Palestinians, but it is also sending a dangerous message to oppressed peoples everywhere: that international law is selective and human rights are negotiable. What faith can anyone have in the global order when it tolerates collective punishment, ethnic cleansing and the targeting of civilians? What good are the Geneva Conventions if there is no one to enforce them?

This failure also carries long-term costs. The credibility of the UN — already in question — is now in freefall. In the Global South, where memories of colonialism and double standards still linger, the UN’s impotence in Gaza is seen as further proof of its irrelevance. Countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America are increasingly asking whether the current global order truly serves their interests or merely those of the powerful few.

It is time to confront an uncomfortable truth: the UN, in its current form, is no longer fit for purpose. If the UN cannot act when its own buildings are bombed, when its staff are killed and when an entire population is pushed to the brink of extermination, then what exactly is it for? Diplomatic theater? A stage for the powerful to polish their image while atrocities rage on?

There must be a reckoning. The UN must either undergo fundamental reform — starting with the abolition of the UNSC veto — or it must accept that it has become a relic of a bygone era. An institution born from the ashes of the Second World War, with the solemn promise of “never again,” now finds itself watching helplessly as “again” unfolds in real time.

The UN must either undergo fundamental reform or it must accept that it has become a relic of a bygone era

Hani Hazaimeh

What does reform look like? It means empowering the General Assembly to override UNSC vetoes in cases of mass atrocities. It means insulating humanitarian agencies like UNRWA from political manipulation. It means establishing mechanisms to enforce international law that do not rely on the will of superpowers. Most of all, it means recognizing that the current structure rewards inaction, breeds impunity and undermines the very ideals the UN was created to uphold.

The people of Gaza do not need more speeches. They need action. They need protection. They need justice. As bombs continue to fall and families are buried in mass graves, the clock is ticking — not only on their survival but on the moral relevance of the international community itself.

The world does not need another powerless institution issuing empty statements while war crimes are broadcast live. It needs structures that can act, enforce the law and protect the defenseless. If the UN cannot do that, then it must step aside and make room for new mechanisms of accountability. Regional organizations, coalitions of conscience or even emerging international tribunals may ultimately take up the mantle the UN has so shamefully dropped.

In Gaza, we are witnessing not just a humanitarian disaster, but the collapse of the global order’s moral foundation. Unless the UN finds the courage to act — not merely speak — it will be remembered not as the guardian of peace and justice, but as a bystander to genocide.

Until then, Palestinians will continue to suffer and the UN will remain what it has tragically become: an institution that watches but never acts.

• Hani Hazaimeh is a senior editor based in Amman. X: @hanihazaimeh