The war in Gaza has now lasted more than 620 days. What remains is rubble, hunger, and broken lives across the Strip. But it is not only buildings that have collapsed—it is the system meant to protect civilians. Dr. Wisam Atallah, a legal scholar and political researcher, sees Gaza as more than a battlefield. He calls it a test of whether international law still has meaning. His words carry the weight of loss and the force of legal truth. Gaza Stories…
The Collapse of the UN and the Power of the Veto
“The Security Council has the authority to deploy peacekeeping forces, to suspend state memberships, even to enforce binding resolutions,” Dr. Atallah explains. “Yet it could not even implement a ceasefire.”
For him, the veto card raised by the United States has turned the UN into a shadow of itself. Billions are spent, resolutions are drafted, but one hand can erase them all. “As if the Security Council never existed, as if the UN never existed,” he says, drawing a direct line between today’s failures and the collapse of the League of Nations.
Systematic Targeting: No Collateral Damage
When asked about the scale of destruction, Dr. Atallah’s response is sharp: “There are no collateral damages. There are no casualties by mistake.” He points to the killings of doctors, children, and journalists—deliberate acts, filmed and justified by the occupying power. The execution of Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, the death of young Hind Rajab, and the bombing of the ambulance that came for her all illustrate the same message: there are no taboos, no laws left standing.
Impunity and Dangerous Precedents from Gaza
The world’s silence, Dr. Atallah warns, is more dangerous than the bombs themselves. “If Israel escapes accountability today, others will follow tomorrow.” He recalls President Joe Biden’s unprecedented wartime visit to Israel and his self-declared Zionist identity. Even when the International Court of Justice ordered aid to Gaza, Netanyahu ignored the rulings completely. “The failure to pursue war criminals,” Dr. Atallah explains, “has only prolonged the genocide.”
Double Standards in International Law
He highlights the hypocrisy in how global powers apply justice. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over the transfer of children in Ukraine. Meanwhile, over 17,000 children were killed in Gaza, and more than 80,000 orphaned, yet Israel’s leaders remain untouched. “If Gaza falls,” Dr. Atallah insists, “then the entire system of international law falls with it.”
Killing Journalists and Silencing Gaza’s Voice
Israel has killed at least 227 journalists since the war began. “Why?” he asks. “Because they documented evidence with sound and image.” He recalls journalist Hassan Aslih, executed on a hospital bed, and Dr. Hossam Shabat, who once told him, “If I’m silent, who will speak about my people’s suffering?” Days later, Shabat was killed.
For Dr. Atallah, this is not collateral damage but a clear policy of erasure. By banning foreign media from entering Gaza, Israel ensures that only local reporters—who are also targets—can tell the truth. “Their only crime,” he says, “is conveying the killing of children and women to the world.”
The Religious Narrative and Netanyahu’s Existential Complex
Another dimension of this war, Dr. Atallah explains, is its religious framing. Netanyahu refers to “Gideon’s chariots,” calling tanks by a biblical name, and speaks of a “war of resurrection.” His speeches tie military action to religious destiny. “This is not just politics,” Dr. Atallah warns, “it is a war defined by an existence complex.”
For Israel’s leadership, Palestinians are not civilians but threats by birth. “They say: this child will grow up and kill me tomorrow,” he explains. Such thinking, he argues, fuels endless war and legitimizes extermination.
The Numbers That Defy Humanity
By mid-2025, more than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 17,000 children and 9,000 women. Over 100,000 are wounded, and thousands remain under rubble. “These are numbers the human mind cannot comprehend,” Dr. Atallah says. “Even the most basic principle of international law—preserving human dignity in life and in death—has been shattered.” Bodies are thrown without names, without graves, stripped even of dignity after death.
Why Gaza’s Struggle Is Humanity’s Test
For Dr. Wisam Atallah, Gaza is not only about Palestine. It is about the credibility of law, the meaning of justice, and the conscience of the world. “If Gaza is abandoned,” he warns, “then impunity will spread everywhere.” The silence of powerful states, the paralysis of institutions, and the daily crimes on Gaza’s streets are not just local failures—they are global ones.
“Gaza,” he says, “is the mirror. If the world looks into it honestly, it will see its own collapse.”
Gaza Stories – Through the Witnessing Eye of Besa
Dr. Wisam’s testimony does not leave room for neutrality. It forces us to see that the ruins of Gaza are also the ruins of justice itself. Each orphaned child, each bombed hospital, each silenced journalist asks the same question: what is the value of law if it cannot protect the innocent? Hear the testimony of Dr. Wisam Atallah—an academic, survivor, and voice of Gaza—exposing the collapse of international law, the silence of global institutions, and the unbroken resolve of a people demanding justice.
Published By Besa Witness Eye
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