The Worldwide Lawyers Association (WOLAS) joins a broad coalition of international legal organizations in issuing an urgent appeal to halt the extermination by starvation in Gaza. This call to action seeks to stop the engineered famine and systemic collapse, and demands immediate and decisive steps to fulfill states’ legal obligations under international law to prevent and halt genocide. WOLAS supports this joint initiative led by the PAL Commission on War Crimes, Justice, Reparations, and Return, and Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.
Key Points of the Call to Action:
- Famine as a Weapon of War: Since 18 March 2025, Israel’s total blockade has further intensified, deliberately destroying Gaza’s food, water, and health infrastructure. 93% of Palestinians in Gaza are suffering from acute food insecurity. Gaza is now at IPC Phase 5 – extermination by starvation.
- Legal Qualification as Genocide: The actions meet the criteria of genocide under Article II(c) of the Genocide Convention: “deliberate infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a group in whole or in part”.
- Failure of Existing Mechanisms: Diplomatic efforts, legal proceedings, and ceasefire mechanisms have all failed to halt the exterminatory policies against Palestinians.
- Call for Immediate State Action:
- Deploy international multilateral humanitarian corridors and protective forces under the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) framework.
- Impose binding sanctions on those obstructing aid.
- Mandate Qatar and Egypt to transparently monitor and report ceasefire violations.
- UN Accountability: Agencies such as IPC, WFP, OCHA, and UNICEF must not remain silent. They must issue flash reports, conduct press briefings, and demand humanitarian access.
- Civil Society Mobilization: Global civil society must maintain consistent and coordinated pressure through:
- Rallies, petitions, and sit-ins.
- Legal filings invoking the Genocide and Geneva Conventions.
- Campaigns to push for humanitarian corridors and protective interventions.
TWİTTER
🛑 WOLAS joins the urgent joint call of international legal organisations on the extermination by starvation in Gaza, initiated by the @PALwarcrimes and @EuroMedHR.
Gaza is at IPC Phase 5—engineered famine. 93% face acute food insecurity. This meets the legal threshold of genocide under Article II(c) of the Genocide Convention.
We echo calls for:
– – Immediate deployment of multilateral humanitarian aid corridors and protective forces (R2P)
– Sanctions on those obstructing aid
– Immediate UN and state intervention
– Civil society mobilization to compel state action
