We call on Member States to honour their obligations under international law and to take urgent action to end what the United Nations Commission has described as genocide in Gaza.
For some thirty years, Médecins du Monde has been running humanitarian and development programmes aimed at improving access to care in the occupied Palestinian territory. Since October 2023, we have witnessed a resurgence of attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including health facilities. We have also observed restrictions on humanitarian aid, leading to the deaths of many Palestinians. Our own premises and clinics have been attacked on several occasions. Our medical staff are both witnesses to and victims of mass atrocities and flagrant violations of international humanitarian law. Ninety percent of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been forcibly displaced, often multiple times, and confined to an overcrowded, extremely restricted and uninhabitable area. The Israeli authorities have blocked access to and delivery of vital humanitarian aid. Deprivation of basic needs has become a weapon. The aid distribution system has been militarised and now constitutes a deadly trap. We have seen a rise in malnutrition over the months, leading to the current famine. Here, famine is being used as a weapon of war.
Today, the Israeli army is moving towards the destruction and total control of the city of Gaza, similar to what happened in Rafah a few months ago. It is imposing forced displacement orders on the entire population of the city, who are already suffering from famine. In the West Bank, the Israeli authorities are responding to symbolic state recognitions with radical measures: they are approving more settlement and annexation projects on Palestinian land while settler violence and movement restrictions intensify daily.
Recognition of the Palestinian state will not end the suffering of its people.
What is there to recognise about Palestine if states do not act to end the destruction of its people? How does this recognition uphold human dignity and human rights when Palestinians are forced to eat animal feed to survive? How can we address unequal access to care when infrastructure is lacking and too often targeted?
We call on Member States to honour their obligations under international law and to take urgent action to end what the United Nations Commission has described as genocide in Gaza. Member States must prioritise concrete measures, as provided for in the Genocide Convention, by the provisional measures orders, and by the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024, and in accordance with United Nations General Assembly resolution ES-10/24. These measures urge the Israeli authorities to allow unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid, to end the illegal occupation within one year, and to proceed with the evacuation of settlers from the occupied Palestinian territory. Israeli hostages and Palestinians illegally detained must be released.
We urge states to keep in mind the most urgent priority: saving lives by using all political, economic and legal tools at their disposal to compel the Israeli authorities to end attacks on civilians, to allow unrestricted humanitarian access, to abandon any plans to annex the occupied Palestinian territory, and to ensure the protection of the rights of the Palestinian people. This recognition is meaningless if it does not mark the end of the massacres.
Signed by:
- 1. ActionAid International
- 2. Al Awda Health and Community Association
- 3. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
- 4. Arab Educational Institute – Pax Christi Bethlehem / Palestine
- 5. Bystanders No More
- 6. Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
- 7. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
- 8. CIDSE – International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations
- 9. Emmaus International
- 10. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- 11. Global Legal Action Network (GLAN)
- 12. HelpAge International
- 13. Insecurity Insight
- 14. KinderUSA
- 15. Médecins du Monde International Network (MdM)
- 16. NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security
- 17. Norwegian Peoples Aid
- 18. Oxfam International
- 19. PARC – Agricultural Development Association
- 20. Pax Christi International
- 21. Palestinian Institute for Climate Strategy (PICS)
- 22. Sabeel-Kairos UK
- 23. The Middle East Children’s Alliance
- 24. Terre des Hommes Italy
- 25. United Against Inhumanity