By Momodou K Manneh
Africa-Press – Angola. The forthcoming UN general assembly meeting scheduled for September 2025, which would be close to two years when the Israel/Gaza war began on 7th October 2023, for all purposes and intent, must ensure that the untold human rights abuses in Gaza comes to an end. The UN must not disperse from the meeting without passing a solid resolution to end the war crimes, crimes against humanity and the genocide in Gaza. Apparently, these were the purpose for which the UN was established on 26th June 1945 to safeguard global peace and security. The September meeting will therefore determine whether this global inter-governmental body is now effective in its functions, and whether it should now transform into a more appropriate world body that should chart out a new path to establish global peace and security. Defenseless innocent Palestinians have evidently suffered far too long which warrants immediate action from the UN. The artillery strikes stepped up by Israel in Gaza city, the forceful evacuation of the already suffering and exhausted Gaza citizens, and the imposition of hunger and malnutrition as a weapon to depopulate Palestine, are enough evidences demanding urgent action from the world body.
The United Nations (The UN)
Aforesaid, the UN was established by the UN charter in June 1945 and officially came into existence on 24th October 1945, upon the ratification of the Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council, viz., the US, UK, France, USSR, and China including some other 46 nations. World war 11 had brought massive ruins to nations and the world had urgently wanted peace. In place of the World League of Nations which could not end World War 11, a successor international world body – the United Nations – was created with the hope to prevent another destructive world war. Four important missions articulated in the UN Charter are worth mentioning: that the UN is to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to promote international cooperation and to serve as a centre for harmonising the actions of states in achieving these goals. Now close to 80 years in its existence, the UN has expanded to include up to 193 member states. It had earned repute in the execution of its operations and Nobel Peace Prizes awarded to some of those at the echelon of the organisation, were milestone achievements for the world body. Dag Hammarskjold, who served as the UN Secretary General from April 1953 to September 1961, was awarded the Noble Peace Prize due to his efforts in developing the UN in to an effective and constructive international organisation. He was noted as successful “in giving life to the principles and aims expressed in the UN Charter”. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees was on two occasions awarded the Nobel Peace Prize due to the body’s assistance to displaced Asian refugees. Kofi Annan served a two-term tenure as the UN secretary general between 2001and 2010. he was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for his eminent leadership and the UN “ efforts toward a better organised and a more peaceful world”. Though not as yet awarded such a peace prize, on June 18th, 2021, Antonio Guterres was reappointed to a second term as the UN Secretary General. Needless to say, his second term is met with the most disastrous and the worse human rights violations in the Middle East. The urgent question is whether the UN is now efficient and effective enough to establish peace and security anywhere in the world as in Gaza, as enshrined in the UN Charter to prove its adequacy in replacing the World League of nations.
The World League of Nations
When World War 1ended in 1919, an inter-governmental world organization, the World League of Nations was founded on 10th January 1920 to maintain peace and foster international cooperation. It had aimed to prevent future wars through “collective security and disarmament, and to settle disputes through negotiations and arbitration”, as explained by Wikipedia. Despite these noble goals, however, the League had failed to prevent World War 11. Among others, two important factors were identified as attributable to the League’s inability and failure to prevent World War 11. Foremost was the lack of member commitment to the laws of the body. Secondly was the weakness in the law enforcement mechanisms especially the lack of unanimity in voting requirements. Eventually countries like Germany, Italy and Japan pulled out of the organisation which subsequently triggered whole world 11. It goes without saying that these are paramount lessons for the UN to learn from, that could enable us avert another world war that would no doubt be more disastrous than any war the world had ever experienced.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
On 12th August 2025 BBC reported that Gaza city has come under intense attack as Israeli forces prepared to occupy the city. Meanwhile the UK, EU, Australia, Canada and Japan have issued a joint statement saying that “famine is unfolding in front of our own eyes” and urged that action is required to “reverse the starvation”. They demanded “immediate permanent and concrete steps” to facilitate entry of aid to Gaza. These countries alongside the US, France and Germany are the bigwigs of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO. Also called the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, NATO was formed in the aftermath of World War 11 in April 1949 with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty by 32 member countries. With 30 states in Europe and 2 in North America, it existed as a military alliance whereby member states agreed to mutual defense in response to threats or attacks by an external party, with particular reference to the then USSR and its allies. Wikipedia shows that it is enshrined in Article 5 of the NATO Treaty that an attack against one member shall be considered an attack against all members. With the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, NATO has expanded its membership to include some of the East European countries allied to the defunct Soviet Union. It has as well expanded its role.History has taught us that NATO had undertaken relevant steps to end war crimes and crimes against humanity.It has extended its activities to establish peace and security between nations, and to safeguard lives and properties of innocent civilians in various parts of the globe.
For instance, the three-year Bosnia/Herzegovina war which sparked up in 1992 was ended in 1995, when NATO initiated air strikes against Bosnian Serbs to stop their attacks on civilians. NATO militarily intervention was necessitated in order to stop the Serbian atrocities against Bosnian civilians, considered as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Again, in March 1999, NATO carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for its refusal to stop the war in Kosovo. NATO’s intervention was prompted by Yugoslav’s bloodshed and ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians, which provoked condemnation by international organisations and agencies such as the UN, NATO, and various NGOs. The bombing continued for three months to June 1999 until an agreement was reached that led to the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army from Kosovo and the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. Though some UN member states such as Russia, China and India had demanded for a cessation of the use of force against Yugoslavia, this was rejected by the Security Council with claims that the military measure was humanitarian.
On 19th March 2011 a NATO led coalition force initiated military intervention in the then ongoing Libyan civil war. This was justified as implementing the UN Security Council Resolution 1993, which condemned crimes against humanity as was apparent in the Libyan civil war with attacks on defenseless civilians. A more recent glaring example of NATO’s military intervention was on 14th April, 2018, when the US, UK and France carried out series of military strikes against multiple government sites in Syria during the country’s civil war with claims to eliminate chemical weapons and to put an end to attacks on innocent civilians. Hence, NATO also has been playing reputable roles in preventing atrocities and human rights abuses against civilians in various parts of the globe.
With these in view, it is about time that the UN and/or NATO, take immediate steps to arrest the twoyear-longperpetrationof wanton atrocities and human rights violations in Gaza, not excluding military intervention. Again, to quote from the joint statement of the EU, UK, Canada, Australia and Japan, it is urgent that “immediate permanent and concrete steps” are taken to facilitate entry of aid in to Gaza, and with good reasons this cannot be undertaken without military intervention. Benjamen Netanyahu and his government have glaringly abused all international laws, and have violated all peace accords to bring peace in Palestine. Israel has committed genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza war which warrant appropriate military intervention by the UN and NATO.
The UN General Assembly in its resolution 260A of 9th December 1948, confirmed that genocide is a crime under international law. Article 11 of the UN resolution has defined genocide as: A/ an act committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, such an act includes the killing of members of a group; B/ causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a group; C/ deliberately inflicting on a group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. Article 111 indicates that genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide or incitement to commit genocide shall be punishable. In the Gaza war Israel has bombed Al Aqsa, Al Shepha, and An Naser hospitals. Israel has carried out artillery strikes on schools and civilian residents. Since the war began in October 2023, the toll of civilian death has risen up to 61,000 with more than 200 journalists deliberately killed in service. UN workers and philanthropists have accused Israeli forces of restricting free entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, thereby deliberately imposing hunger and malnutrition on the population. This has resulted in the death of hundreds including women and children unbearably staying for days and weeks without food. On various occasions Israel has violated or rejected peace agreements to end the Gaza war as evidenced by its violation of the Hamas, Doha and Donald Trump peace proposals.
In his recent meeting with the Saudi authorities, foreign minister Serign Modou Njie lamented that Israeli forces still continue to launch unprecedented military aggression against the people of Gaza and the occupied West Bank, committing various war crimes, genocide and forceful displacement of the Palestinian people. He posited that anyone truly compassionate and believes in the principles of justice and human rights, will definitely categorise what is happening in Gaza and the entire Palestinian territory as inhumane and unacceptable. Needless to say, a lot of the Gambian populace applauds Mr Njie’s congratulations on Saudi Arabia and France’s stands for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
Serign Modou Njie has said it all by explaining that the Gambia and Saudi Arabia as well as the Muslim Ummah, believe that the best option for a peaceful and durable settlement of this prolonged dispute between Palestine and Israel, is a peace accord based on the two-state solution guaranteeing both states their legitimate and inalienable rights to full sovereignty and self-determination.
Source: The Standard Newspaper | Gambia
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