On 23 May 2025, UNICEF reported that over 50,000 children had been killed or injured since October 2023. Trusted human rights organisations are increasingly reporting that civilians are being denied food aid, poisoned, and shot while trying to access supplies. There are ongoing accounts of humanitarian assistance being blocked. Hospitals, schools, and public infrastructure have been levelled. International Humanitarian Law (IHL) has been dismissed—despite the fact that millions died in the world wars to establish the human rights infrastructure and global standards meant to protect civilians during conflict.
Why, then, are some commentators arguing that human rights declarations and IHL are idealistic or inconvenient? Is it because the current violations are not happening in their own territories?
What is the cost of abandoning our international infrastructure when it comes to human rights, justice, and wartime behaviour?
IHL was created to stop the worst excesses of war. I encourage readers to look into the Geneva Conventions and the legal principles covering military conduct and humane treatment. Doing so can help us understand not only our rights but why it matters—perhaps now more than ever—to hold states accountable for upholding them.
What happens when IHL is ignored?
States can pre-emptively strike civilian populations with no regard for the damage done. They can claim threats without evidence. They can attack civilians en masse—those not engaged in combat are killed, tortured, and denied aid. This applies to all sides involved in wars, no matter your political view.
The result is the erosion—and eventual annihilation—of trust in legal systems. We begin to dehumanise people. We create generational trauma. Global instability becomes the norm. We feed fear and fuel a rush to arm—regardless of the cost to humanitarian investment. That fear is driven by propaganda that sustains the military-industrial complex and wider industries that benefit from the deaths of civilians.
Why do some argue IHL doesn’t work?
Because, like most international agreements, it relies on state cooperation. That makes it vulnerable to politicisation, weaponisation, and selective enforcement. It exposes deep global inequalities—where some states are shielded by alliances while others are vilified. Political alliances become less about building equitable futures and more about consolidating power—at the expense of civilians.
So what’s the alternative?
The Ancient Greeks were among those to argue that without ethics and transparency, the state becomes merely a tool of the powerful. It signals the end of democratic frameworks. Do we really want to live in a world where any civilian is fair game in war? If we don’t uphold IHL, that’s the future we’re choosing.
Global human rights frameworks were fought for. Many of us still carry photographs of those in our families who died in the world wars—people who believed they were fighting for the dignity and humanity of all, regardless of race, ethnicity, or heritage. Were their lives in vain?
We must claw back what has been lost. Otherwise, we accept a global norm defined by decay, lawlessness, and conflict spilling into every civilian space. And we forget that these laws don’t just protect civilians—they protect soldiers, aid workers, and even prisoners of war. They protect us from becoming monsters to each other.
So what have we been doing while the very mechanisms for peace have been degraded and eroded? Why are we glorifying war and the illegitimate use of power?
The world is watching Gaza not just with grief, sorrow, fear, and anger—but with moral fatigue. But letting that fatigue turn into apathy is dangerous. We must ask: who benefits when the laws of war are broken? And who suffers when they are not enforced?
International law isn’t perfect. But it stands between us and the abyss. When we erode it, we don’t just betray the victims—we endanger all of us.
Further reading
UNICEF Statement on Gaza (May 2025)
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-more-50000-children-killed-or-injured-gaza
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): An Overview of the Geneva Conventions
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/geneva-conventions-1949-additional-protocols
UN OHCHR – What is International Humanitarian Law?
https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-and-mechanisms/international-humanitarian-law
King Advisory 
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