May 12, 2025 in Paris
Mr. President of the Republic,
Our association "Jurists for Respect for International Law" (JURDI) – composed of eminent jurists (lawyers, judges, professors of law) specializing in international law – is once again addressing you to urge you to use, as a matter of urgency, all of France's influence to "enforce" the peremptory norms of international law governing the protection of the medical mission by the parties to the armed conflict taking place in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip, of which the State of Israel is the occupying power.
This protection regime—a cornerstone of international humanitarian law—prohibits any attack against the wounded, sick, healthcare facilities, ambulances, medical personnel, and civilians who have taken refuge in hospitals. The annex to this letter provides a more detailed explanation of the relevant legal provisions of this protection regime.
As the occupying power of the Gaza Strip, Israel has an obligation to assist the protected persons of the occupied territory, including by providing appropriate medical assistance so that the wounded and sick can be treated, by providing medical equipment and medicines, by facilitating vaccination campaigns and the distribution of other goods essential to the survival of both patients and medical personnel.
Far from respecting its obligations as an occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel is pursuing a deliberate policy of systematic and widespread destruction of the health system in the Gaza Strip, constituting a clear war crime and crime against humanity, as concluded by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel in its report of 11 September 2024 (A/79/232).
The humanitarian consequences of this Israeli policy are catastrophic and jeopardize the very foundations of international humanitarian law. According to the United Nations, the Gaza Strip's healthcare system is collapsed and depleted, the situation having been further aggravated by a lack of supplies for over 60 days, leaving the already displaced population without access to healthcare and, more broadly, to any humanitarian assistance in a territory that has become uninhabitable. All medical sanctuaries have been damaged since October 8, 2023, and are overwhelmed. Only 21 of the 36 hospitals are still partially operational. Their staff are exhausted, have been arrested, killed, or are missing. Stocks of medicine, medical equipment, and food are almost completely depleted.
The recent repeated attacks on hospitals, including Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza on April 13 and the Kuwaiti field hospital in Khan Younis on April 15, the repeated attacks on Al-Shifa Hospital since October 2023, and the attacks on Palestinian Red Crescent personnel and infrastructure add to a long list of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The total blockade prevents any supplies from reaching the hospitals. Hunger, lack of medical care, and disease are killing people every day.
These proven facts confirm that a genocide is probably underway in the Gaza Strip, as the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, highlighted the plausibility of this in three orders indicating provisional (legally binding) measures adopted in 2024 and rejected by Israel.
JURDI urges you to take humanitarian, legal and diplomatic initiatives to put an end to this alarming situation.
Humanitarian initiatives
We call on you, if necessary by national military means, to urgently deploy medical personnel, medical equipment and medicines to and within the Gaza Strip, to support the opening of secure humanitarian corridors and to increase France's aid to international (notably UNRWA) and non-governmental organizations operating on the ground.
France should also contribute to the international protection of the remaining operational healthcare infrastructure and personnel, while guaranteeing the independent capacity of the ICRC, the Palestinian Red Crescent, and their partners. Furthermore, it must promote concrete European initiatives in this area, mobilizing the mechanisms established for crises and humanitarian emergencies.
Legal initiatives
France must fully mobilize its national jurisdictions to prosecute the alleged perpetrators of international crimes committed in Gaza, whether under active personal jurisdiction (particularly in cases involving French-Israeli soldiers), passive personal jurisdiction (when French nationals are victims of these crimes), or within the framework of quasi-universal jurisdiction.
It should also fully support the establishment of independent investigative mechanisms – in particular the mechanism proposed by the Human Rights Council on 2 April 2025 (A/HRC/58/L.30/Rev.1), on which it unfortunately abstained – strengthen its cooperation with crime documentation and prosecution bodies, including the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and support the intervention of the International Fact-Finding Commission (Article 90 of PA I to the Geneva Conventions).
It should also intervene before the International Court of Justice in support of cases directly or indirectly concerning Israel's failures to meet its international obligations, in the spirit of the statements made by its representative on the occasion of the recent request for an advisory opinion made by the United Nations General Assembly on December 19, 2024.
Diplomatic initiatives
We urge you to implement the following measures without delay:
- publicly condemn attacks targeting health infrastructure and medical personnel; ;
- initiate or support the adoption of targeted sanctions, including at the European level; ;
- to promote European and international initiatives to guarantee the protection of health infrastructure and medical personnel; ;
- to demand the repeal of Israeli laws hindering the medical mission, including those authorizing the administrative detention of medical personnel or preventing the presence and activities of the United Nations, including those of UNRWA.
France has consistently worked within the United Nations Security Council and elsewhere to ensure respect for and implementation of these standards for the protection of humanitarian assistance missions, including those of humanitarian and medical personnel. In particular, it supported the adoption of resolution 2286 (2016) dedicated to this protection and initiated the "Political Declaration on the Protection of Medical Care in Armed Conflict" of October 31, 2017.
This commitment is also part of France's legal obligations under:
- of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 relating to the protection of civilian persons in time of war; ;
- of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which requires it to act to prevent the commission of genocide, including through the effective protection of protected persons and property.
It is now imperative that France put these commitments into concrete action, by preventing further serious violations of international law and by prosecuting the perpetrators of these crimes.
Our association, Jurists for Respect for International Law (JURDI), is at your disposal to contribute to and discuss this.
Please accept, Mr. President of the Republic, the assurance of our highest consideration.
Patrick ZAHND
President of JURDI
