War in Gaza Strip: 250 NGOs call for ‘immediate’ stop sending weapons to Israel and Hamas

Truly silence the guns. More than 250 humanitarian and human rights organizations have joined an open letter calling for an “immediate” end to all arms supplies to “Israel and Palestinian armed groups.” “We demand an immediate ceasefire and call on all states to stop transferring weapons that could be used to commit violations of international humanitarian law and human rights,” the groups said Thursday, joining the initiative launched four months ago. An open letter published last January by 16 organisations, including Amnesty International, Save the Children, Oxfam and Médecins du Monde, now has more than 250 signatures.

In the letter, the NGOs condemn both Israeli attacks on civilians that are “making Gaza uninhabitable” and “hostage-taking and indiscriminate attacks” by armed Palestinian factions. They call on “all UN member states” to stop “inciting” the war in Gaza by sending materials “that could be used to commit violations of international humanitarian law and human rights” by both camps.

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This requirement particularly affected Israel, whose firepower was considered disproportionate and responsible for the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Last month, the Canadian government officially announced it would stop sending military equipment to Israel, even though the Jewish state has been among Canada’s top 10 arms export destinations in recent years. The Netherlands and Spain have taken action.

Last week, 115 left-wing French MPs cited the countries as an example to challenge Emmanuel Macron and demand that France stop supplying military equipment to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. They relied on investigations from the investigative websites Disclose and Marsactu, according to which “France authorized the supply to Israel of at least 100,000 pieces of machine gun ammunition at the end of October 2023, which will likely be used against civilians in the Gaza Strip.”

That same day, the UN Human Rights Council demanded a halt to all arms sales to Israel, which is at war with Hamas in Gaza, in a resolution, citing fears of “genocide” against Palestinians. “The UN Security Council must take responsibility for maintaining world peace and security by taking action to stop the supply of weapons to the Israeli government and Palestinian armed groups,” the non-governmental organizations, including Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic organization, insisted in the letter. The Jihad Group and smaller factions that support them in the fighting.