Press Release
The Embassy of the State of Palestine in the Kingdom of Sweden expresses its profound dismay at the Swedish Government’s assertion that only international courts can determine whether the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip constitutes genocide. This position comes despite the report issued on Monday, 1 September, by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), which concluded that “Israel has engaged in systematic and widespread crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, including indiscriminate and deliberate attacks against the civilians and civilian infrastructure (hospitals, homes, commercial buildings, etc.) of Gaza, which, according to official UN estimates, at the date of this resolution, has killed more than 59,000 adults and children in Gaza.”
Overwhelming evidence and documented facts confirm the scale of crimes committed against the Palestinian people. More than 62,000 civilians have been killed, entire families wiped out, and homes, schools, and hospitals reduced to rubble. These findings have been affirmed by reputable academic and human rights institutions, most recently by IAGS, which confirms that the Israeli government is committing acts of genocide against civilians in Gaza.
While IAGS calls on the Israeli government to halt actions that rise to the level of genocide and war crimes, it also urges other countries to fulfill their obligations under international law, especially at a time when the International Criminal Court, in 2024, issued an arrest warrant for war crimes against Netanyahu and his Defense Minister.
The Embassy of the State of Palestine in the Kingdom of Sweden calls on the international community to recognize that failing to apply the precise legal and moral designation of these crimes as genocide delays urgent measures to prevent and stop them, effectively granting the Israeli occupying power additional time to continue killings, destruction, ethnic cleansing, and acts of genocide in Gaza. More than ever, the international community is obligated to uphold its legal, moral, and humanitarian responsibilities by protecting Palestinian civilians, halting the ongoing genocide, and acting in full accordance with the principles of justice and international humanitarian law to bring an end to 77 years of Israeli occupation.
