On State Responsibility, Self-Determination and the Protection of Life in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
22 April 2026
WE, PARLIAMENTARIANS, ELECTED OFFICIALS, POLITICAL FIGURES, AND PARTNERS BUILDING ON THE OUTCOMES OF THE GLOBAL SUMUD PARLIAMENTARY CONGRESS, STAND UNITED IN
Recognising that the persistent grave illegalities committed by Israel in Palestine and Lebanon place the credibility of international law and the entire multilateral system at risk. The persistence of grave violations without consequence diminishes the authority of law;
Affirming that international law must be applied consistently, on equal premises, and in good faith, including where enforcement is politically difficult. Legitimacy derives from principled and equal application, not selective invocation;
In this context, responsibility cannot end with recognition; responsibility requires action. Action to uphold the law, to protect affected populations, and to restore the conditions necessary for life, dignity, and self-determination.
We Recall
Recalling the findings of the International Court of Justice affirming the illegality of the continued occupation of Palestinian territories, and the obligations of all States not to recognise or assist that situation;
Noting with extreme concern that the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice in the case of South Africa v. Israel, which activated obligations for Israel and other states under the 1948 Genocide Convention, remain unfulfilled;
Reiterating the inalienable rights of the Palestinian and Lebanese people to self-determination, sovereignty, accountability, reparations, return, and sovereignty over natural resources; and reaffirming that these rights are non-negotiable and non-derogable;
Noting with extreme concern that, while transit shipping routes were used to facilitate illegal military shipments, essential humanitarian aid was denied the right of passage;
Shocked by the scale of human suffering and the serious risk of further violations of international law in Palestine, and Lebanon, including atrocity crimes;
Affirming that the persistence of such conditions does not weaken legal obligations, it amplifies them.
We Affirm
That the rights of the Palestinian people cannot be reduced to a humanitarian question. Access to food, water, healthcare, movement, and connection to the world are not matters of relief, but essential components of the group’s survival.
That the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory must be understood within a broader framework of denied selfdetermination and decolonisation, requiring resolution consistent with international legal principles on ending colonialisation.
That responsibility under international law extends to all actors, State and non-State, public and private, whose conduct contributes to the maintenance of unlawful situations. Where serious breaches persist, obligations do not diminish, they intensify, requiring coordinated and sustained action.
A people entitled to self-determination and freedom cannot be reduced to a condition of permanent humanitarian dependency.
We Commit
Within our respective mandates and responsibilities, to:
Act, individually and collectively, to bring to an end the unlawful situation identified by the ICJ through coordinated legal, political, diplomatic, and economic measures;
Ensure that no public authority, private entity, or institutional arrangement under our jurisdiction contributes, directly or indirectly, to the maintenance of that situation, including through trade, investment, financial flows, procurement, or technological cooperation;
Advance and support the adoption of effective measures, consistent with international law, capable of impeding the continuation of unlawful practices, including restrictions and sanctions on trade and investment, particularly in the financial, technological, energy, and military sectors;
Promote legislative and policy frameworks requiring due diligence, accountability, and, where necessary, disengagement by corporations and financial institutions involved in activities contributing to or benefitting from grave violations of international law;
Urgently promote diplomatic efforts to ensure humanitarian oversight and access by independent international bodies to prisoners unlawfully held in Israeli prisons, and to exert maximum effort to challenge the racialised imposition of the death penalty;
Support pathways toward full accountability, including cooperation with international judicial mechanisms, and efforts to ensure investigation, prosecution, and redress for serious violations;
Support the restoration and protection of the material conditions necessary for Palestinian economic sovereignty , including land, water systems, agriculture, energy, and marine resources;
Support efforts aimed at reparations, restitution, and the restoration of rights, including those arising from displacement, dispossession, and the denial of return; and reject any coercive imposition of alternative pathways that may seek to derogate from these rights;
Advance, support, and protect sovereign and effective access routes by land and sea;
Ensure the protection of all actors engaged in efforts to restore access, deliver essential goods, and uphold international law, including civil society initiatives, and oppose their obstruction or criminalisation;
Promote transparency, consent of local communities, independent monitoring, and public accountability in relation to access, resource distribution, and the conduct of all actors operating in this context;
Challenge coercive and distortive uses of legal, diplomatic, and media authority to undermine the inalienable Palestinian and Lebanese right to self-determination.
On Access, Connectivity, and the Maritime Humanitarian Corridor
Access to the illegally Occupied Palestinian Territories remains severely constrained.
Where land-based routes are insufficient, obstructed, or subject to arbitrary restriction, international law requires the establishment of effective alternative modalities.
Access by sea constitutes a lawful and necessary means of ensuring the delivery of essential goods, as well as an expression of the right to movement, connection, and external exchange.
In this context, the establishment of a maritime humanitarian corridor to Gaza is not only a practical necessity, but a legal imperative.
We therefore commit to advancing, supporting, and protecting the creation of such a corridor, including through:
- coordination among States and relevant international actors to enable safe and sustained maritime access;
- the facilitation of the delivery of essential goods, including food, medical supplies, fuel, and materials necessary for the survival of the group;
- the establishment of clear operational arrangements ensuring compliance with international law, including international humanitarian law;
- the deployment or support of monitoring and verification mechanisms to ensure transparency, and safety.
We further affirm that all actors engaged in lawful efforts to establish or sustain maritime access must be protected from obstruction, criminalisation, or attack, and that any interference with such efforts must be assessed in light of applicable obligations under international law.
Final Provision
The credibility of international law depends on its consistent, egalitarian, and good-faith application, particularly in situations involving grave breaches of fundamental norms. Legality demands action. Accountability, protection, and the restoration of conditions necessary for life and dignity. Where access is denied, it must be restored, including through a maritime humanitarian corridor to Gaza. Through this Declaration, we commit to translating principle into practice, from recognition to implementation, in the pursuit of justice, dignity, and the realisation of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
