Taking a Stand on Gaza: A Call To Action 

Signatories Listed Below* | September 15, 2025

We, the undersigned, condemn in the strongest possible terms Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate response to the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023.

Israel’s right to self-defence is circumscribed by international law. Measures taken in self-defence must still comply with international law, including with core International Humanitarian Law principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality. As well, they are to be reported to the UN Security Council, which bears the primary responsibility for international peace and security.

Israel’s actions meet none of these requirements. What we are witnessing is not lawful self-defence but illegal use of armed force on a massive scale.

We agree with Amnesty International, hundreds of UN staff, genocide scholars, and leading Israeli human rights groups who argue that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government is committing genocide and other atrocity crimes in Gaza. Their continuing military operations appear intended to extinguish any chance of Palestinian self-determination and extend Israeli sovereignty over Gaza and other Palestinian territories.

Israel’s security concerns in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks of 7 October do not justify collective punishment or the destruction of Palestinian life on a scale that amounts to genocide. More than 63,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s response to date, and the Israeli Defence Force’s own database indicates that five out of six of those killed are civilians.

Israel has deliberately and systematically blocked food, water, medicine, and fuel from reaching Gaza’s civilian population. The so-called humanitarian distribution centres have not only been ineffective, but have also become sites of orchestrated killing and enforced disappearance. The United Nations has confirmed that Gaza is descending into massive famine.

This starvation is not an unintended by-product of conflict but a calculated strategy. Mr. Netanyahu is already the subject of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of starvation as a weapon.

Israel has bombed hospitals nearly 2,000 times, killing patients and staff. It has also killed more than 210 journalists, at least 56 of them deliberately targeted, while sanctioning critical Israeli media outlets.

Ninety percent of Gaza’s population—around 1.9 million people—has been displaced. Entire neighbourhoods, including Gaza City, have been and are being systematically flattened. In the West Bank, settler violence and expanding illegal settlements have displaced thousands more.

Thousands of Palestinians have been arbitrarily detained and subjected to torture, inhumane treatment, and sexual violence. A UN Commission has documented systematic gender-based violence as part of Israel’s campaign.

A recent report showed that 88 percent of Israel’s investigations into alleged war crimes were closed or left unresolved.

The International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion from July 2024 calls explicitly upon all states and organizations not to recognize or to render aid or assistance in maintaining a situation that is illegal under international law. This includes plans aimed at annexation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967.

Our Call

We reject any efforts to dismiss or discredit the rigorous, independent assessments of UN agencies and international experts. These findings consistently point to Israel’s persistent and systematic violations of international law, including the use of starvation, collective punishment, and the targeting of civilians. They are an urgent call to action, not grounds for denial or delay.

We therefore call for:

  • Immediate, unhindered humanitarian access, especially for UN agencies with expertise in famine response.
  • An end to the use of starvation and sexual violence as weapons of war.
  • Accountability for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, with full compliance by all parties with international humanitarian law and respect for ICC and ICJ rulings.
  • An end to the supply of arms to Israel and to the provision of diplomatic or political cover for its actions.
  • International pressure on Israel to comply with international law, including suspension of cooperation and trade that sustain the illegal occupation.
  • The release of all remaining hostages by Hamas without delay.
  • Recognition of Palestinians’ rights to self-determination, which includes the creation of a Palestinian state with internationally recognized borders.
  • Refraining from any plans that see Palestinians relocated and their land transferred to Israel or its allies.
  • A swift end to the war, the only way to halt the mounting toll and open a path toward a just and lasting peace in which the whole population in the region can live with dignity and security.

*Signed:

Joelien Pretorius, University of the Western Cape, South Africa

Cesar Jaramillo, SANE Policy Institute, Canada

Katariina Simonen, University of Helsinki, Finland

Yoshiko Kurita, Former President of Japan Association for Middle East Studies, Japan

David Ellwood, Former Research Director, Clay Mathematics Institute, UK

Francesco Lenci, Retired Research Director, Italy National Research Council, Italy

Jennifer Allen Simons, The Simons Foundation, Canada

Nola Dippenaar, Professor Emeritus, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Tom Sauer, Antwerp University, Belgium

Haifa Baramki, YWCA Palestine and formerly Birzeit University, Palestine

Samir Shawa, Chairman of Alhani Cultural Foundation, Palestine

Ahmed Haggag, Secretary-General of Africa Society, Egypt

Ayman Khalil, Arab Institute for Security Studies, Jordan

Rebecca Eleanor Johnson, Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, UK

Peter Jenkins, Former Ambassador to the UN (Vienna), UK

Peter Collecott, Former British Ambassador to Brazil, UK 

Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, Professor of Mathematical Physics (Ret), Italy

Yngve Sundblad, Professor Emeritus, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

Hussain Al-Shahristani, President of Pugwash-Iraq

Annick Suzor-Weiner, University Paris-Saclay, France

Peter Lock, European Association for Research on Transformation, Germany

Bernard Hourcade, Senior research fellow emeritus at CNRS, France

Angelika Hilbeck, Senior Scientist and Lecturer (retired), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), Switzerland

Nevenko Bilic, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Croatia

Eric Lerner, LPPFusion, US

Monica Zoppè, Institute of BioPhysics, National Research Council (CNR), Italy

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