THE world still remembers the Bosnian genocide that took place during the Bosnian war of 1992-95. The horrors of the war, including war crimes, ethnic cleansing and grave crimes against humanity are all well documented. However, what makes the mention of this war today inevitable is the torturous killing of all those Bosnians who decommissioned their weapons as per the condition of peace proposed by the Western world. The promise of peace was shattered. The United Nations and the West were just not able to put the atrocities of perpetrators to an end. The genocide was acknowledged by many prestigious global legal forums, but that made no difference to the victims of the war.

The American peace plan included the cessation of hostilities, but it was Israel which breached the ceasefire agreement with Hamas and continued to target the civilians. The Zionist regime has continuously resorted to such tactics, but Washington has shown no interest in holding Israel accountable. American officials continue to threaten Hamas, but stay mum over the excesses of Israeli forces.

Israel’s starvation tactics and targeting of aid disbursement camps remind one of the Bosnian parallel. The United Nations had failed miserably in the case of Bosnian genocide, and its role in the Israeli genocidal assault on Gazans remains just as unimpressive. The Muslim world has failed the people of Palestine. It is the responsibility of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Arab League and other such platforms to finally wake up.

Saman Aftab
Lahore

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2026