Middle East - Switzerland International conference on the situation of the civilian population in Geneva
The international conference on the situation of the civilian population in the territories occupied by Israel will take place in Geneva on March 7. This was confirmed by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs on Saturday in response to media reports.
01.03.2025, 13:06
SDA
Switzerland has invited all 196 states parties to the Geneva Convention to take part in the conference, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) said in response to an inquiry from Keystone-SDA.
Switzerland was mandated by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 September to organize the conference and to discuss the protection of the civilian population "in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem" on the basis of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
This is already the fourth conference of its kind. The last time around 125 states took part in such a conference was in 2014. As the depositary state of the Geneva Conventions, which set out the laws of war and humanitarian law, Switzerland has previously organized similar conferences in 1999, 2001 and 2014.
The participants are the permanent representatives of the High Contracting Parties based in Geneva. A Conference of High Contracting Parties cannot adopt binding resolutions, but can reaffirm the rules of international humanitarian law.
On Friday, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Varsen Aghabekian, said that she welcomed the Geneva Convention. "We expect states to fulfill their obligations," she said. She also called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to insist on seeing the Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Since the UN General Assembly vote and after 15 months of intense warfare, a ceasefire was reached in the Gaza Strip in January, allowing, among other things, the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and the entry of humanitarian aid to care for the population.
