Urgent Appeal
On the Second Anniversary of the Ongoing Genocidal Crimes in the Gaza Strip
Geneva/Istanbul, 7 October 2025
On this day, we mark the second anniversary of the genocidal campaign launched by the Israeli occupation forces against the population of the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023. The catastrophic consequences of this campaign continue to worsen to this day amid a disturbing international silence and an unprecedented political and humanitarian failure in the modern history of international justice.
Over the course of two full years, the world has witnessed one of the bloodiest and most destructive military assaults against civilians. Israel continues to kill, on average, 92 Palestinians daily — including 27 children and 14 women. To date, the number of those killed or injured has exceeded 150,000 Palestinian civilians. Entire residential neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, refugee camps, and places of worship have been deliberately targeted, wiping out entire families beneath the rubble. Moreover, the population has been deliberately starved through the systematic blockade and the denial of food, medicine, and fuel — in blatant violation of international humanitarian law and the most fundamental principles of human rights.
The passage of two years without accountability or deterrence reflects the failure of the international system to fulfill its duty to protect peoples from genocide. It represents a serious setback to the credibility of the international justice system, established to ensure that the horrors that once shook the conscience of humanity would never be repeated.
Despite two years having passed since the start of this tragedy, no effective measures have been taken to halt the crime or hold its perpetrators accountable. This constitutes a grave breach of the Responsibility to Protect principle adopted by the United Nations in 2005, which obliges the international community to intervene to prevent or stop genocide whenever a state is unable or unwilling to do so, or is directly complicit in its commission.
The UN Security Council has been limited to issuing superficial statements and non-binding deliberations, while the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council have failed to enforce their resolutions. The repeated use of the U.S. veto has obstructed any genuine accountability for the Israeli occupation, thereby entrenching a culture of impunity and emboldening the perpetrators to continue their crimes.
We affirm that what is taking place in Gaza constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 — particularly the principle of civilian protection during armed conflict. These acts amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of genocide as defined in Articles (6), (7), and (8) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The occupying power and the states that provide it with political and military support bear direct legal responsibility for the continuation of these crimes, including the public incitement to genocide voiced by Israeli officials in full view of the international community, without any effective action taken to stop them.
All States Parties to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide bear a clear legal obligation not only to punish the perpetrators but also to prevent and halt the ongoing crime through concrete measures.
In light of our legal and moral responsibility, we hereby call for:
- All States Parties to the 1948 Genocide Convention to fulfill their legal obligations and take practical steps to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
- The international community and the United Nations to take urgent action to establish an international protection mechanism for the Palestinian people in Gaza and ensure the unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid.
- The UN Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, granting it full access to the Palestinian territories to collect evidence of ongoing crimes in Gaza.
- The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to expedite the investigation into crimes committed in Palestine and issue arrest warrants for all Israeli officials implicated in genocide and siege crimes.
- The international community to formally recognize Israel’s legal responsibility for the crime of genocide.
- International and regional human rights organizations to launch a global accountability campaign under the slogan “No Impunity for Crimes in Gaza.”
The second anniversary of this genocide is not merely a reminder of pain and suffering; it is a renewed call to the conscience of humanity and to the institutions of international justice to act decisively — to end this catastrophe and put an end to impunity for those responsible.
Geneva Center for Democracy and Human Rights – Geneva
International Justice Forum – Istanbul
International Jurists Union – Geneva office
Contact: ijugeneva@bluewin.ch