GAZA: MILITARY INTERVENTION IS THE LAST RESORT

Written By Dr Chandra Muzaffar

Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins called on the United Nations to take urgent action in Gaza.

During an interview with RTE News on August 3, Higgins urged Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to invoke Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, a mechanism that allows enforcement action, including the use of force, without Security Council approval, if deemed necessary.

WATCH CLIP

The International Movement for a Just World (JUST) supports wholeheartedly the sincere and principled call of the president of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, to the UN to intervene militarily to save the people of Gaza from starvation and death. He has asked the world body to invoke chapter  7  of its Charter which allows the UN Security Council to take binding measures including the use of force to protect a people from annihilation and extermination  at the hands of an aggressor that is utterly contemptuous of international law and civilised norms of behaviour. 

In spite of UN General Assembly resolutions urging restraint and pleas from nations and communities to stop its brutal bombardment of a helpless people, and harsh restrictions on the distribution of food and medicines to them, Israel has been relentless in its pursuit of the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. The  military intervention proposed by the Irish president is in effect the last resort.

One hopes that other nations including the 30 odd countries that condemned Israel for using starvation  as a weapon of war on the 21st of July 2025 and the 9 states that constitute  the Hague Group which has pledged to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine and has endorsed the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination will also come forward  and support military intervention on the part of the UN. My own country, Malaysia, which is a member of the Hague Group should also respond to the Irish call.

Since Security Council approval of military intervention is a prerequisite for UN action, the people of the world who are appalled by the genocide in Gaza over the last 22 months, hope the United States will not use its veto to prevent the Security Council from acting as the conscience of humanity. Even if it does not want to vote for intervention, it should at least abstain. 

Dr Chandra Muzaffar
President
International Movement for a Just World (JUST)
Malaysia

9 August 2025

Dr Chandra Muzaffar

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar is the President of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST), an international NGO based in Malaysia, which seeks to critique global injustice and to develop an alternative vision of a just and compassionate civilisation guided by universal spiritual and moral values. He has published extensively on civilizational dialogue, international politics, religion, human rights and Malaysian society. The author and editor of 32 books in English and Malay, many of his writings have been translated into other languages. Among Chandra’s latest publications are, A World in Crisis: Is There a Cure? and Reflections on Malaysian Unity and Other Challenges. In l977, he founded a multi-ethnic social reform group called Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN) which he led for 14 years. Today, apart from his role in JUST, Chandra sits on the board of a number of international NGOs concerned with social justice and civilizational dialogue.

Chandra was Professor and Director of the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue, University of Malaya (1997-1999) and Professor of Global Studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia (2007-2012). Chandra travels abroad frequently, giving lectures and speaking at seminars and conferences. He is also a regular speaker at meetings at home in Malaysia. Chandra is the recipient of a number of international awards related to his scholarship and social activism. Chandra is married to Mariam Mohd Hashim and they have two daughters.

Next

SHAPE Statement of Solidarity Silencing the Mandate: US Sanctions on Francesca Albanese A Symbol of International Law’s Twilight