Israel's continuous disregard for international laws and United Nations resolutions on the Middle East issues and its alleged hand in delaying a cease-fire deal are endangering its own safety and driving countries to consider taking punitive measures against it, analysts said.

“It’s very clear that Israel has crossed all red lines when it comes to respecting international laws and international humanitarian laws of warfare and others. It has normalized massacres. It has perpetuated genocide for 10 months, it continues to go from one low to another low,” said Muslim Imran, director of the Asia Middle East Center for Research and Dialogue in Malaysia.

The hearings at the International Court of Justice, he said, have opened the doors for international action.

READ MORE: Accountability mechanism urged against Israeli strikes on Gaza schools

“Now, even European countries feel emboldened to criticize Israel and its right-wing government because it is clear that policies of genocide, apartheid and war crimes are being committed by Israelis. Except for the United States, the rest of the international community realizes that associating with Israel comes with the cost,” said Imran.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares discussed launching an effective international action to end aggression in Gaza as well as the humanitarian catastrophe that had unfolded, and work on a two-state solution at their meeting in Madrid, Spain on July 29, the Qatar News Agency reported.

The meeting was the latest involving senior government officials who want an international accountability mechanism established.  Saudi Arabia’s cabinet, led by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, had earlier stressed the need for one, amid Israel’s continued bombing of so-called safe zones in Gaza, schools, refugee camps, and hospitals despite resolutions and recommendations.

Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Faisal Mekdad on July 29 called on the United Nations to probe Israel’s repeated violations and attacks by Israeli forces on Syrian territory after 12 youngsters were killed at a soccer field in Majdal Shams in the annexed Golan Heights over the weekend.

Both Israeli officials and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group have accused each other of launching the Majdal Shams rocket attack.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit also demanded a full investigation of the attack, warning repeatedly about the negative repercussions resulting from the protracted conflict and the risks of its expansion into a state of major military confrontation and instability, Egypt’s Ahram Online reported.

Gokhan Ereli, Gulf studies coordinator at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Turkiye, noted that for some time now, calls to stop Israel’s attacks on Gaza “have been more strongly voiced than Israel’s right to defend itself, both in the West and in Asia”.

For example, the new government of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had announced that it would not proceed with efforts to question whether the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction to issue warrants of arrest for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

“The recent statements by Starmer and the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, which are aimed at reconciliation and are not at all pro-Israeli, indicate that this consensus may continue and strengthen,” Ereli told China Daily.

Additionally, he said, the meeting held in China, where various Palestinian political factions moved toward reconciliation, “signifies that Israel must cease its attacks and a political solution platform could be established”.

“Israeli actions have now reached a level that has not been seen in the 21st century. Most say it is genocide or apartheid, etc …. Most of the governments are now seeing the issue as a humanitarian issue (and) not viewed from a vantage point that is boldly pro-Palestine or anti-Israel,” Ereli added.

Iran’s newly elected president Masoud Pezeshkian also warned Israel of serious consequences if it attacks Lebanon during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron said in response that Iran had a role to play to avoid the escalation, the Iran International reported.

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The US cautioned Israel against escalating tensions with Lebanon and Hezbollah as the death toll in Gaza approached 40,000.

On July 29, Palestinian group Hamas accused Netanyahu of delaying talks on the conflict by adding new conditions and demands to a US proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza.

But a statement from Netanyahu’s office said the Hamas leadership was the one preventing an agreement.

Contact the writer at jan@chinadailyapac.com