International conference on March 7 on situation of Palestinians in occupied territories

Switzerland has scheduled an international conference for March 7 on the situation of civilians in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, following a request from the U.N. General Assembly, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

“We can inform you that a conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention will be held in Geneva on March 7, 2025. Switzerland has invited the 196 states parties to the Geneva Convention to participate,” a ministry spokesperson told AFP in an email. The participants will be permanent representatives of the High Contracting Parties based in Geneva.

Switzerland was tasked by the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 18 to organize the conference and discuss the protection of civilians “in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,” under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

As the depository of the Geneva Conventions, which define the laws of war and humanitarian law, Switzerland has previously hosted similar conferences in 1999, 2001, and 2014.

“A Conference of High Contracting Parties cannot make binding decisions but can reaffirm the rules of international humanitarian law,” the Swiss Foreign Ministry states on its website.

Since the U.N. General Assembly’s vote and after 15 months of heavy fighting, a cease-fire was established in the Gaza Strip in January. It allowed for the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and the delivery of humanitarian aid to more than 2 million people in the enclave, where Israeli bombings and fighting against the Islamist group Hamas have destroyed most infrastructure and 90 percent of homes.

Meanwhile, violence has sharply escalated in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli settlers have carried out increasing attacks against Palestinians since Oct. 7. The Israeli army is currently conducting a large-scale operation in the northern West Bank, displacing some 40,000 Palestinians from several refugee camps.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and regularly conducts raids against Palestinian militants, but the current offensive in the north is the longest in two decades.