The UN Human Rights Council calls for an end to arms sales to Israel, France abstains

During a session in Geneva on Friday April 5, 2024, the UN Human Rights Council calls for an end to arms sales to Israel.

The Human Rights Council examined on Friday, April 5, 2024, in Geneva, the draft resolution on the “situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to 'ensure accountability and justice'.

The Council adopted the resolution, demanding an end to arms sales to Israel, with 28 votes in favor, 6 against (Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Malawi, Paraguay, United States) and 13 abstentions (including France). The resolution is not binding, but allows the Council to express its concern about respect for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in Gaza, and thus positions Israel's partner states to face their responsibilities with regard to international humanitarian conventions.

The application of this resolution now relies on the willingness of third States to comply with international legal and humanitarian directives; Israel already has a track record of non-compliance with resolutions intended for it, notably that of March 25 demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Israel had also decided in 2012 to break contact with the Human Rights Council, it had judged that the latter was biased and focused disproportionately on the situation of the occupied Palestinian territories.

This same Friday, April 5, 115 French parliamentarians asked the President of the Republic for an immediate end to the sale of arms to Israel, via a letter at the initiative of parliamentarians Mathilde Panot (La France Insoumise), Cyrielle Chatelain (Les Ecologists) and Guillaume Gontard (Ecologist Solidarity & Territories Group of the Senate).

After more than 180 days of bombing in Gaza, Israel has killed more than 32,623 Palestinians since October 7, 2023, including at least 14,500 children.

Palestine Media Agency