As Israel escalates its genocide in Gaza and prepares to execute its final cleansing or "transfer" of the populace of the Strip, calls are mounting for humanitarian intervention to protect the Palestinians. In Episode 280 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg explores the concrete steps already taken by elements of the international community to implement the "Responsibility to Protect" doctrine in the Gaza Strip—as well as exploring the critique of humanitarian intervention repeatedly raised in other contexts by Noam Chomsky and the anti-imperialist left.

Amid growing warnings of starvation, the Israeli military on May 19 allowed humanitarian aid into Gaza for the first time in more than 11 weeks. The nine trucks permitted to pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing came after the UK, France and Canada threatened to sanction Israel if it did not allow in assistance. UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher welcomed the move, but said it was a "drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed." Earlier this year, during the two-month ceasefire that ended in March, nearly 600 trucks entered Gaza every day. (NewsHour, France24, CNN)

United Nations human rights experts urged on May 7 that the international community must act immediately to end the intensifying violence in Gaza.

The experts stated that since the end of the ceasefire, which started on Jan. 19 and ended on March 18, there have been yet harsher attacks on the population in Gaza: "Escalating atrocities in Gaza present an urgent moral crossroads and States must act now to end the violence or bear witness to the annihilation of the Palestinian population in Gaza—an outcome with irreversible consequences for our shared humanity and multilateral order."

The Israeli government on May 5 unveiled a new military plan for the Gaza Strip, an operation forebodingly dubbed "Gideon's Chariots" (Merkavot Gideon) after an Old Testament conqueror. Approved unanimously by the security cabinet, the plan calls for the "conquering of Gaza" and retaining the territory indefinitely, an official said. The plan also includes concentrating the Palestinian civilian population in a "sterile area" in the south of the Strip. The official said Israel will give Hamas until the end of US President Donald Trump's trip to the Middle East, which is 10 days from now, to agree to a hostage deal. Otherwise, "Operation Gideon's Chariots will begin with great force and will not end until all its objectives are achieved." The military is already calling up tens of thousands of reservists in preparation for the new operation. (TNA, ToI, TML, JNS, DW, BBC News)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) held hearings this week on Israel's ban on cooperation with UNRWA, the UN's agency for Palestine refugees. It could take some time for a (non-binding) ruling on Israel's move to cut ties with UNRWA, and it has already been two months since Israel reinstated its full siege on Gaza, blocking the entry of aid and commercial goods while bombarding the territory. In a graphic illustration of the extent of the siege, organizers of a vessel carrying aid and activists to Gaza said it was bombed by Israeli drones, leaving the ship disabled off the coast of Malta.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed concern on April 11 over the legality of recent Israeli evacuation orders under international humanitarian law, citing fears over the permanent displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. 

Since resuming hostilities on March 18, Israel has issued 21 "evacuation orders." On March 31, the Israeli military issued an order covering almost all of Rafah, the Strip's southernmost governorate, followed by a large-scale ground operation in the area. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were already reportedly trapped in Rafah, with no way out and no access to humanitarian aid.

A coalition of independent UN human rights experts on April 3 called on additional states to join the Hague Group. The statement urges states to ensure accountability for Israel's violations of international law and to cooperate with the international courts to restore the rule-based international order. ​

In Episode 272 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg discusses the Israel-hosted "International Conference on Combatting anti-Semitism" that featured speakers from the European and American neo-fascist (and even anti-Semitic!) far right. The established phenomenon of paradoxical fascist pseudo-anti-fascism has now been joined by anti-Semitic pseudo-anti-anti-Semitism. While Trump's 2019 executive order on anti-Semitism sought to conflate anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, the new posture would actually substitute the prior for the latter entirely as the ideology to be opposed, in all but name. Anti-Semitism is now acceptable as long as it is pro-Israel, fulfilling Zionist founder Theodore Herzl's 1895 prediction: "The anti-Semites will become our most dependable friends, the anti-Semitic countries our allies."