Cancellation of a conference in Switzerland on Palestinians in the occupied territories
“The conference on the implementation of the 4e Geneva Convention in the occupied Palestinian territory, mandated by the AGNU, will not take place ”said the spokesman for the Swiss Foreign Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nicolas Bideau, on the social network X on Thursday, while the latter, requested by the UN General Assembly (AGNU), was to be held on Friday. “In the absence of consensus between the high contracting parties, Switzerland, as a depositary state, has decided not to summon it”he explained.
Switzerland had been mandated on September 18 by the AGNU to organize this conference within six months and mention the protection of the civilian population “In the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem” Based on the 4ᵉ Geneva Convention. All the high contracting parts, “Including Israel and Palestine”were invited to participate in the conference, the Swiss Foreign Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
But Thursday, the Palestinian ambassador, Ibrahim Khraishi, canceled the press conference he was to give at the start of the meeting. His Pakistani counterpart, Bilal Ahmad, also had to participate in this press conference, as coordinator of the member countries of the Islamic Cooperation Organization. Israel had announced “Reject(r) firmly the conference project ». This conference is part of a “Legal campaign on Israel” and is “Completely political and controversial”had affirmed the Israeli representation in Geneva, on X.
Switzerland is the depositary of Geneva Conventions which define the laws of war and humanitarian law and has already organized similar conferences in 1999, 2001 and 2014.
