Palestinians attend the funerals of 50 people from three families, killed during the war and whose bodies were recently found under the rubble, in Gaza, on Aug. 20, 2026. (Credit: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)
France and the United Kingdom, permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, must act together to enforce international law in Israel and the Palestinian territories, 102 former French and British ambassadors urged in an op-ed published Saturday in Le Monde.
Among them are French diplomats Yves Aubin de la Messuzière, a former ambassador and director of North Africa and the Middle East at the Quai d’Orsay ; Bernard Bajolet, a former ambassador to Algeria and Jordan ; Denis Bauchard, a former ambassador and director of North Africa and the Middle East ; and Frédéric Desagneaux, a former consul general in Jerusalem. British signatories include Sir Jeremy Greenstock and Sir Emyr Jones Parry, both former ambassadors to the United Nations, and Sir Vincent Fean, a former consul general in Jerusalem.
France and the United Kingdom, which recognized the State of Palestine in 2025, must now translate that recognition into concrete measures, the diplomats wrote. They accused the Israeli government of undermining the prospect of a Palestinian state and denounced the humanitarian situation in Gaza, as well as violence and destruction in the West Bank.
’’Palestine is disappearing before our eyes,’’ they warned, pointing to the precarious situation of the 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who are ‘’confined to 30 percent of a devastated territory, starving, deprived of medicine and shelter.’’
’’In East Jerusalem and elsewhere in the West Bank, the destruction of homes and widespread settler violence, with the collusion of the Israeli army and police, amounts to ethnic cleansing,’’ they wrote.
The letter condemned the ‘’heinous crimes’’ committed by Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but said ‘’nothing justifies the systematic policy of destruction of Gaza and its population.’’
The signatories made recommendations to Paris and London on enforcing decisions by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, including suspending trade agreements with Israel and bilateral military cooperation.
They also called on the Palestinians to ‘’ensure that the state recognized by more than two-thirds of countries is democratic and upholds the law, despite the occupation.’’ They recommended the political, administrative and economic reunification of Gaza and the West Bank, as well as free and fair elections.
However, the text does not mention the disarmament of Hamas, which is a sine qua non for Israel to withdraw from Gaza.
The op-ed comes amid tensions between Israel and European countries. Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom on Thursday called on Israel to ‘’end the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.’’
