Israel’s Invasion of Gaza City: Does the US Have a Red Line?

The Israeli military has begun its ground offensive on Gaza City, further intensifying a conflict which has resulted in the death of over 64,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Since the Hamas terror attack on October 7th, 2023, the population of Gaza City has swelled from 450,000 to 1.2 million, as the rest of the territory has come under heavy siege. Now, the city’s residents are at risk of being forcibly displaced as well, with few viable areas left to seek refuge. 

Israel’s conduct has drawn considerable condemnation from international bodies, with the UN recently joining the world’s leading experts and even Israeli rights groups in accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. The Israeli foreign ministry rejected this claim, which was the result of a United Nations commission of inquiry. But even statements made by Israeli military and government officials themselves over the course of the conflict have made the accusation of genocide hard to deny. "I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly,” said Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli Defense Minister. "We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba. Gaza Nakba 2023. That's how it'll end,” said Avi Dichter, Israel's Agriculture Minister. Nakba, or “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the forcible displacement of over half of the Palestinian population by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. 

Many countries, including US allies, have publicly taken similar stances to that of the UN. Recently, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia joined the list of more than 140 UN member states to formally recognize Palestinian statehood. While this is mostly symbolic, it is evident of growing international disapproval of Israel’s perpetration of the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 

The posture of the US stands in stark contrast to the global coalition. The State Department joined Israel’s foreign ministry in rejecting the UN’s conclusion of genocide in Gaza, stating that “this kind of equivocation by the UN is further evidence of its moral bankruptcy.” Contempt for international authorities and the rules-based order is nothing new for the Trump administration, which imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court following the issue of arrest warrants for top Israeli officials. These kinds of actions are in no way performative or symbolic — they only embolden an increasingly aggressive Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister. From a US perspective, there is no red line.

While Trump’s rhetoric and generally unwavering support for Netanyahu and his far-right government have offered little resistance, it would be a mistake to suggest that the drawing of a red line would even matter anyway. In 2024, then President Joe Biden declared that an assault on the southern city of Rafah would constitute the crossing of a red line. But ultimately, the administration just moved the goalposts, going to great lengths to avoid condemning the attacks on the city which displaced nearly 1 million Palestinians over the course of a three week assault. The conflict raged on, and Israel faced no significant repercussions. 

Regardless of administration or party, the US response to the crisis in Gaza has been representative of the flaws in the international order. UN declarations, international court rulings, and even arrest warrants for Netanyahu himself carry little weight when there is no mechanism to enforce them. For better or for worse, that mechanism has historically been the US, whether militarily or diplomatically. Israel can operate with impunity, knowing that condemnation abroad will not translate into material consequences. If the United States is the linchpin of the system but refuses to act, even when its own red lines are openly crossed, then the entire framework collapses under the weight of its contradictions. The question that remains is not whether the world will condemn the tragedy, as many have done, but whether it will ever have the power and political will to stop it.