The US must get serious with Israel if this conflict is ever to be resolved

There are already numerous Security Council resolutions calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. They are not enforced because of the US and its allies, writes Borzou Daragahi

Children scavenge among the debris of a building severely damaged by an air-strike prior to a cease-fire reached after an 11-day war between Gaza's Hamas rulers and Israel (AP)

A ceasefire appears to have put an end to the devastating 11-day war between Israel and Hamas and other militant groups in the Gaza Strip. It is still early days, and the calm could collapse, but both sides in the conflict have likely concluded that they have achieved most of their aims, and have little interest in prolonging a battle that has cost scores of civilian lives, overwhelmingly Palestinian, and further damaged the already fragile infrastructure of the volatile, impoverished Gaza Strip.

Upticks in violence between Israelis and Palestinians have become so frequent over the decades as to become almost numbing. Despite the ceasefire, the latest round resolved absolutely none of the issues underlying the conflict – especially the dispute over Jerusalem that triggered it, and the broader context of Israeli occupation and de facto annexation of Palestinian lands.

But the war this time also reverberated worldwide very differently compared to previous conflicts, and at the very least clarified and crystallised the tough truth that the only way out of this globally potent conflict is through international institutions.