Palestine Calls for Arms Embargo Against Israel at Geneva Conference

Geneva: The State of Palestine on Friday called for imposing an embargo on arms supplies to Israel. Speaking during the Eleventh Conference of States Parties (CSP11) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in Geneva, the Palestinian delegation, headed by Palestine's ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Khraishi, called on all States Parties to the ATT to immediately impose a comprehensive embargo on arms transfers to Israel and halt cooperation with Israeli colonies in the occupied territory. According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, the delegation also urged the State Parties to the ATT to bring an end to the Israeli occupation based on the July 2024 International Court of Justice's (ICJ) advisory opinion. This opinion found that Israel's decades-long occupation of the Palestinian territory was "unlawful," and that its "near-complete separation" of people in the occupied West Bank breached international laws concerning "racial segregation" and "apartheid." During its intervention, the delegati on emphasized the serious consequences of exporting arms to the Israeli occupation, along with ensuing war crimes and the crime of genocide committed against the Palestinian people. The delegation highlighted violations by the Israeli occupation of the provisions of the ATT, particularly those concerning the diversion of arms transfers to armed groups, specifically armed Israeli colonists. The delegation added that the Israeli occupation authorities were pursuing systematic policies designed to arm Israeli colonists, who intimidate, murder, and displace defenseless Palestinian civilians and vandalize their property. It concluded that supplying arms to Israel not only contributes to the consolidation of the apartheid system and racial discrimination against the Palestinian people, but also to the crimes of torture and sexual abuse against Palestinians, including women and children.