There is no end to the genocide until Israel is forced to abide by the ceasefire
London, 18th March 2025: Overnight, Israel has killed at least 404 Palestinians as they slept. The death toll is expected to rise further still, while Israel has threatened that the attacks shall continue, essentially announcing that it will no longer even maintain the pretence of ceasefire. The survivors were taken to stripped-out hospitals, where no medicines had entered for weeks.
In any other context, the massacre of at least 404 people – including the wiping out of entire families– would provoke a sense of urgency to prevent further atrocities and to punish those responsible, in line with the demands of the Genocide Convention and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) more broadly. Once again, it appears that Palestinians are uniquely exempted from the protections of IHL, much as Israel is uniquely exempted from being held to the same standards of other countries with regards to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Pat McFadden, a British Minister, responded to the news with the declaration that the UK “will always stick up for Israel’s right to defend itself”. According to reports in The Independent, the attacks were approved in-advance by the US’ Trump administration. The lives of Palestinians are treated with contempt by Israel and with contemptuous indifference by the West.
The ‘ceasefire’ agreed to two months ago has now been shattered, but the signs of Israel’s disdain for abiding by the ‘ceasefire’ have been proven again and again. On Saturday, eight aid workers and journalists were killed by an airstrike in Beit Lahia, and four boys were killed in Gaza City by drone on Friday. Until last night, at least 150 Palestinians in Gaza had been shot or bombed dead since the ‘ceasefire’ announcement. No food or aid had entered Gaza since the start of the month, which has also coincided with the beginning of Ramadan, and Gaza has also been deprived of energy and water.
It is clear that Israel refuses to engage in peace, negotiates in bad faith, and cannot be ‘urged to comply’ with international law through words alone. A state which massacres over 400 people at whim, which has been credibly accused of genocide in the World’s highest Court, by numerous UN bodies, and world-leading rights organisations, must be brought to heel. Western states should not underestimate the power they wield if they took genuine action to isolate Israel and treat it as the pariah state that it is.
There are 152 States Party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, including the entirety of Europe and North America. States including the US, UK, Germany, and France, to this day, provide Israel with support such as arms, equipment and military intelligence: despite their Genocide Convention obligations, despite well over 64,000 Palestinians killed, and despite the almost two million people currently starving in Gaza.
The hostages could be released and home today, with the Phase Two ceasefire initially scheduled to begin last month. Instead, Israel has massacred hundreds, and starved hundreds of thousands, in order to amend their initial agreement. What else, other than a rogue state headed by warmongers, would subject people to these cruelties. These are not a “negotiating tactics”, they are acts of genocide.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- 1. The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians is an independent organisation of lawyers, politicians and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.
- 2. For more information, to arrange an interview with a spokesperson, or to obtain photographs and footage of the event, please contact the ICJP news desk at press@icjpalestine.com.