International Community Must Uphold the Responsibility to Protect the Palestinian People

The Stanley Center for Peace and Security amplifies the call to action published by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P) urging states to uphold the norm of Responsibility to Protect (R2P):

For nearly two years, Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) have been subjected to an unrelenting escalation of atrocity crimes perpetrated by Israel, with little to no reprieve, justice or protection. Famine is rapidly spreading, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, nearly 90 percent of Gaza is under Israeli-militarized zones or forced displacement orders and there is clear evidence that the Israeli government is perpetrating mass atrocities, including genocide. The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect urgently calls on the international community to immediately and comprehensively implement the Responsibility to Protect in the OPT.

The norm of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) seeks to ensure that the international community prevents and responds to genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing – often referred to as “atrocity crimes.” Twenty years ago, at the UN World Summit, heads of state and government unanimously and formally committed to uphold this responsibility – rooted in existing international obligations, including the Genocide Convention, Refugee Convention, human rights conventions and treaties and customary international law.

R2P and the obligations it entails have applied to the OPT since the inception of the norm. R2P’s first pillar commits states to protect all populations from atrocities, including through the adoption, implementation and institutionalization of measures aimed at preventing risks of such crimes arising in the first place. Israel’s discriminatory policies and practices targeting Palestinian populations, including apartheid policies, settlement expansion, illegal occupation and longstanding siege of Gaza, among others, have already demonstrated significant gaps in its willingness to uphold this norm.

Under R2P, when a state is manifestly failing to protect populations under its control, as in the case of Israel’s responsibilities as the occupying power in the OPT, the international community must be prepared to take appropriate collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, using all peaceful means and, where necessary, coercive measures. The applicability of this responsibility has only heightened over the past two years – including in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where Israel has escalated its administrative detention, excessive use of force and forced displacement while enabling violence by Israeli settlers. In Gaza, Israel has obstructed the delivery of aid, employed starvation as a weapon of war, deliberately targeted civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure indispensable to life while committing crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. UN agencies and NGOs operating in the OPT have been subjected to operational restrictions, defunding and smear campaigns, while leading Palestinian rights organizations, critical in providing monitoring and documentation, have been sanctioned for their pursuit of justice and accountability.

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. . . states should exhaust all means available to confront the scale of suffering and injustice being perpetrated in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza.

At this critical juncture, the international community is confronted with a moment laden with moral weight, legal obligations and historical consequence. Many states, including those with deep influence, have failed in their obligations to uphold R2P and international law more broadly, including by continuing to arm, fund, trade with and shield Israel from accountability.

The genocide in Gaza lays bare the consequences of inaction and double standards in the face of crimes that shock the conscience of humanity – consequences R2P was explicitly designed to prevent. Mass atrocities are not inevitable, nor should they be treated as such; they are the culmination of years of unchecked risk factors and early warning signs that have been ignored or intentionally suppressed. For those remaining in Gaza, the window of opportunity to save lives and stop this destruction is rapidly closing. The time to act is now.

Over the last two years, the Global Centre and others have called for the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect, including Palestinian civil society organizations, the Gaza Tribunal, legal academics and former senior UN officials.

The international community must replace cautious incrementalism with unconditional adherence to the moral imperatives, political commitments and legal obligations underpinning the principled leadership demanded by R2P. The UNSC is not the only body tasked with upholding R2P and the protection of populations from mass atrocities. It is incumbent on the international community and all UN bodies, including the UN General Assembly (UNGA), to act on their duty to uphold R2P at all times and actively pursue avenues for prompt action. Where the UNSC continues to fall short in this responsibility, it becomes even more imperative for others to enhance their efforts.

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Preventing future atrocities begins with recognizing and naming the conditions that enable them. This includes acknowledging the long-running Israeli state policy of subjugation, dispossession and fragmentation of the Palestinian people, as well as confronting their systemic dehumanization. True accountability demands a political process rooted in justice, inclusion and international law – not imposed solutions that exclude Palestinian agency.

Read the full statement by GCR2P.