Does International Law Still Apply to Western Countries and Israel?

The laws meant to bind all nations equally are now seen as tools of power. Gaza has exposed what happens when justice depends on who your friends are.

International law was created to ensure that no state stood above justice. Yet today, the rules-based order so often invoked by Western governments seems less a shield for the weak than a sword for the powerful. From the invasion of Iraq to the devastation in Gaza, the principle of equal accountability under the law appears to be collapsing under the weight of geopolitical hypocrisy.

A System Built on Inequality

International law, unlike domestic law, relies on voluntary compliance. There is no global police force to enforce its rules; only the political will of powerful states can make them stick. That imbalance has allowed some nations—particularly in the West—to treat international law as a matter of choice, not obligation.

Western governments are quick to demand sanctions and prosecutions when adversaries act unlawfully. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rightly triggered international outrage and legal action. Yet when the same legal standards are applied to Western conduct, the response is silence or denial. The 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, carried out without UN Security Council authorisation, remains one of the most glaring breaches of international law in recent history. NATO’s intervention in Kosovo, though justified on humanitarian grounds, also bypassed the UN.

Such selectivity has turned what should be a universal legal order into a hierarchy—one where some states enforce the rules, and others are merely subject to them.

Israel’s Legal Immunity

For decades, Israel’s occupation and settlement policies in the Palestinian territories have drawn condemnation from the United Nations and human rights bodies. The International Court of Justice ruled in 2004 that Israel’s West Bank separation barrier violates international law. UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016) reaffirmed that Israeli settlements have “no legal validity.” Yet the construction continues.

This endurance owes much to consistent protection from the United States and its European allies. Washington has wielded its veto power at the Security Council more than 40 times to block resolutions critical of Israel, effectively shielding it from accountability. This political backing has helped cement Israel’s exceptional status in the international system: a state whose violations are acknowledged but rarely punished.

Gaza and the Crisis of Accountability

The war in Gaza has pushed this double standard to a breaking point. Israel’s assault, launched after Hamas’s attacks, has devastated the enclave—killing tens of thousands, flattening neighborhoods, and displacing nearly the entire population. Human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have accused Israel of collective punishment and indiscriminate attacks in violation of the laws of war.

At the same time, reports from humanitarian monitors and former detainees describe the mass arrest and mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners, many held without charge or trial under administrative detention. Allegations of abuse—including torture, humiliation, and denial of medical care—raise grave concerns under the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Convention Against Torture.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has an open investigation into alleged war crimes committed in the occupied territories since 2014, but few observers believe it will lead to meaningful accountability. Israel rejects the court’s jurisdiction, and the U.S. has openly opposed any ICC action against Israeli officials. If the ICC is powerless when the accused enjoy Western backing, what does that say about the universality of international justice?

Power, Politics, and the Rule of Law

This crisis is not simply about Israel. It is about whether the international system still functions as a system of law—or merely of politics. The UN Security Council’s veto system ensures that those who wield the most power face the least scrutiny. Law becomes a diplomatic instrument, applied when convenient and ignored when it threatens friends or interests.

The result is a deep moral and institutional rot. Western governments proclaim a commitment to a “rules-based order,” but their selective enforcement of those rules has eroded their credibility. In much of the Global South, this hypocrisy fuels resentment and skepticism toward international institutions—seen not as guardians of justice, but as instruments of Western dominance.

Restoring Credibility

To restore faith in international law, accountability must be consistent. That means supporting investigations and prosecutions wherever the evidence leads—even when it implicates allies. It means ending the political shielding of powerful states through UN vetoes. And it means recognising that impunity for one state undermines justice for all.

Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the devastation in Gaza present a pivotal test. If the international community once again looks away, it will confirm what many already suspect: that the global legal order exists only for the powerless.

The promise of international law was that it would restrain power, not serve it. Unless that promise is renewed, the world risks sliding further into a future where law is no longer the foundation of order—but its casualty.