A ceasefire means witnessing first-hand the sheer scale of destruction, pain, suffering, and loss. Yet, despite it all, the most important thing is that the killing has stopped. We love life as much as we possibly can.
This week, the first phase of a ceasefire in Gaza was announced. This will offer so many people long overdue respite from 15 months of relentless bombardment, displacement and deprivation, and the hugely welcome release of hostages. Yet Christian Aid's partners in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory are not under any illusion that this ceasefire alone will deliver a sustained and just peace. We must redouble our efforts to addressing the root causes of the conflict.
Tragically, the ceasefire comes almost a year after world leaders received the clearest possible warning of a serious risk of genocide in Gaza. In January 2024, The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that, based on Israel’s statements and actions following the Hamas attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023 – the sheer level of destruction, the lack of food, the breakdown in the very fabric of life – that there was a plausible risk of genocide. The ICJ demanded that Israel stop the indiscriminate killing of civilians and enable humanitarian access and relief. It compelled other states, including the UK and Ireland as signatories to the Genocide Convention to ensure the measures are followed and to act to prevent genocide, rather than waiting until it’s too late. It is only now, as our partners begin to pick through the rubble and start to rebuild, that the true scale of loss of life will become clear.
With a fragile ceasefire in place, we must also think about the actions we can take to support a just and lasting peace. We know from our decades of work in the region that a sustainable peace is not possible until the illegal occupation of Palestinian land is ended, and that Israeli and Palestinians are treated as equals. This is not just Christian Aid’s perspective; it has also been emphasised by the UN General Assembly and the ICJ. Last summer, the UN’s top court found that the occupation and building of settlements on Palestinian land was illegal, a barrier to peace, and that all countries – including the UK and Ireland – must not provide any economic support or trade with those settlements.
This is why we, along with our colleague in Trócaire, Oxfam and other organisations, continue to call for the passage of the Occupied Territories Bill. This is one crucial step the next Irish Government can take. They committed to doing so before the recent election, and we need to ensure all our TDs are reminded of this and work to pass the Bill urgently, without any delays or watering down.
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Why the law and accountability matter
As the UN’s top court, the ICJ has the unique power to determine whether what Palestinians in Gaza have faced, and are facing, legally constitutes genocide, as defined by the Genocide Convention. But this process may take years. The ICJ’s initial rulings compel the international community to act now in order to prevent the destruction of a people.
No ruling will turn the clock back on the colossal suffering since the start of this war. More than 46,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in Gaza. 1,200 have been killed in Israel and 251 taken hostage. Over 700 have been killed in the West Bank. Instead, we must do all we can now to help those in need, rebuild, pursue justice for all Palestinians and Israelis, and hold those responsible for grave crimes accountable.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Minister of Defence, Yoav Gallant, along with Hamas leaders Mr Ismail Haniyeh and Mr Yahya Sinwar now reportedly killed, charging leaders with a litany of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Yet many states have refused to comply.
A month earlier, a UN commission found that Israeli actions in Gaza constituted the crime against humanity of extermination – accusing Israeli security forces of deliberately killing, detaining, and torturing medical personnel. The United Nations has consistently warned international governments that civilians are being starved as a method of war in Gaza.
Israel also stands accused of crimes beyond the latest war. Prior to 7 October 2023 an independent legal opinion found that the 17-year closure of Gaza constitutes the crime of persecution. In July 2024, the ICJ ruled that Israel must end its broader occupation and settlement activity in the West Bank must cease. It prohibited any state from supporting the occupation. The UK and Ireland continue to allow trade with and investment in Israeli settlements, despite recognising that they are illegal and a barrier to peace.
The incoming Irish Government has pledged to pass the Occupied Territories Bill, and end economic and trade support for these illegal settlements. They must do so as a matter of urgency.
The last 100 years are littered with extreme violence against innocent Palestinians and Israelis. The historic atrocities against the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks against Israelis on 7 October 2023. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of millions of Palestinians and the slaughter of tens of thousands.
Abandoned
The international community has effectively abandoned the people of Gaza over these past fifteen months. Innocent Palestinian civilians are being treated as an inconvenience of history. They remain largely unprotected wherever they are, while Israel denies both their right to self-determination and effectively claims all the land between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea for itself. A ceasefire will do little to change that reality.
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A just peace is only possible if nations stand against all war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The UK and Ireland must work for a just peace by:
- Ensuring those responsible are held to account. This includes full access for journalists and UN agencies, an end to arms transfers, and for accountability at international courts like the ICC and ICJ for all crimes committed.
- Challenging the decades-long and illegal occupation. This includes a ban on any trade and investment with illegal Israeli settlements, built on Palestinian land.
- Increasing support for aid and humanitarian access in Gaza. This includes substantially increasing funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) and resisting Israel’s attempts to stop this crucial, life-saving agency from operating.