Links to recent news and analysis on efforts to prevent and resolve violent conflicts, including the role of the UN and International Criminal Court, and weapons control.
Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza?
6/8/2025: In January 2024, the International Court of Justice issued a provisional ruling that Israel must take all measures to prevent a genocide from occurring in Gaza. Five Australian experts in international law and genocide offer their opinion as to whether the evidence shows one is occurring.
Source: The Conversation
UN renews push for two-State solution for Gaza conflict
30/7/2025: The UN Secretary-General has reiterated that there is no alternative to the two-State solution to achieving lasting peace in the Middle East. The US and Israel did not participate in a UN conference to jumpstart political momentum toward ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Source: UN News
US withdraws from UNESCO
22/7/2025: The US government will withdraw from UNESCO in 2026. The State Department cites UNESCO’s "outsized focus" on the Sustainable Development Goals and its inclusion of Palestine as a member state.
Source: Devex
Why is Israel bombing Syria?
16/7/2025: Israel is backing the two prominent allied minorities in Syria — the Kurds in the northeast and the Druze in the south — in their push for a federal governance model. The transitional government in Damascus is pushing for a centralised state and seeking to reassert full control over the entire Syrian territory.
Source: The Conversation
The urgency of building peace
14/7/2025: There are more armed conflicts today than at any point since the end of World War II. The chair of the UN Peacebuilding Commission explains how the project strives to help countries rebuild after war and sustain peace over the long run.
Source: Devex
Gaza: ‘Unacceptable’ choice between getting shot or getting fed
11/7/2025: The UN Human Rights Office has serious concerns about respect for essential international humanitarian law in relation to killings of Gazans at or around aid distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Since 27 May, the Office has recorded 798 killings in the vicinity of the Foundation sites.
Source: UN News
US sanctions UN expert Francesca Albanese over Israel criticism
9/7/2025: The US administration has imposed sanctions on the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory over her documentation of Israel’s abuses against Palestinians during its war on Gaza. Albanese appears to dismiss the Trump administration’s economic penalties, calling them ‘mafia-style intimidation techniques’.
Source: Al Jazeera
Europe’s top rights court finds Russia responsible for downing of MH17
9/7/2025: Europe's top human rights court has ruled unanimously that Russia was responsible for the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 and also that Moscow has repeatedly and systematically violated human rights in Ukraine. The court is expected to rule in due course on possible compensation but it has no way of enforcing its rulings.
Source: Reuters
UN concern at withdrawals from landmines treaty
2/7/2025: The UN’s top human rights official has expressed grave alarm that six European countries are either in the process of or are considering withdrawing from the international treaty prohibiting anti-personnel mines. The number of civilians killed and injured by mines increased by 22 per cent in 2024.
Guterres calls for immediate Gaza ceasefire
27/6/2025: The UN Secretary-General has reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, warning that the humanitarian crisis has reached “horrific proportions.” He also said that "the only sustainable path to re-establishing hope is by paving the way to the two-State solution."
Source: UN News