Humanitarian Intervention in the Gaza Crisis after 7 October 2023: A Realist Analysis of International Responses

Abstract

The escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict since 7 October 2023 has exposed a sharp tension between the imperative of human protection and international power politics. This article examines how international humanitarian responses to the Gaza crisis are shaped by national interests, power distribution, access control, and institutional dependence. The study employs a qualitative document-analysis approach. Its corpus includes United Nations Security Council resolutions, reports issued by OCHA, WHO, and UNRWA, human rights reports, and major scholarly works on humanitarian intervention, humanitarianism, and realism. The materials are analyzed through thematic coding focused on four categories: control over humanitarian access, donor politics, the capacity of international organizations, and norm enforcement. The findings demonstrate that humanitarian action in Gaza does not operate in a politically neutral environment. The mandates of international organizations are constrained by territorial authority, security considerations, donor-state support, and the political configuration of the Security Council. Realism explains why states prioritize security, alliances, and strategic position, thereby applying moral commitments selectively. Nevertheless, realism does not fully account for the persistence of humanitarian operations, normative pressure, and the limited agency of international institutions. The article concludes that the effectiveness of humanitarian responses depends on the interaction among operational capacity, legal protection, and the political will of influential states.