In a scathing report, Amnesty International has accused the international community of enabling Israel's "illegal push to annex the West Bank" through a "shameful" pattern of impunity. The human rights organization argues that global inaction in the face of Israel's flagrant violations of international law has emboldened the country to accelerate its settlement expansion and de facto annexation of Palestinian territories.

Unchecked Aggression

What this really means is that the world's failure to hold Israel accountable for its abuses has given the Netanyahu government a free pass to continue its relentless colonization of the West Bank. As Reuters reports, Amnesty's Secretary General Agnès Callamard stated that "Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and discrimination against Palestinians have been carried out in full view of the international community for decades with near-total impunity."

Implications for Peace

The bigger picture here is that the lack of meaningful consequences for Israel's actions has eroded any remaining hope for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. BBC News notes that Israel's unrelenting settlement expansion has carved up the West Bank, making it increasingly difficult to carve out a viable, contiguous Palestinian state. As The New York Times observes, the "creeping annexation" has essentially rendered the notion of a two-state solution "a fantasy."

The implications are far-reaching, as NPR reports, the failure to hold Israel accountable has also undermined international law and the rules-based global order. Unless the international community takes meaningful action, the prospects for a just and lasting peace in the region appear increasingly bleak.

As our earlier analysis explored, the erosion of American leadership and the rules-based international system has created a vacuum filled by authoritarian actors like Russia and China. The Amnesty report underscores how this dynamic has empowered Israel to flout international norms with impunity.