Gaza – the humanitarian catastrophe continues to worsen

There is an outcry of horror throughout the world in response to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which continues to worsen every day. People around the world are mobilising with increasing urgency against the daily atrocities unfolding before our very eyes. In recent days and weeks, there has also been an increase in protests in Switzerland: By individuals, organisations, movements and even authorities – including a Swiss cantonal parliament and several Swiss cities. Referring to the blatant lawlessness of the Netanyahu government’s actions against an entire people, they denounce the pitiful and incomprehensible silence of official Switzerland.

It started with the youngest
cantonal parliament in Switzerland

Of the numerous public submissions to the Federal Council that have been made available to us in recent weeks, Resolution No. 228 of the Jura Cantonal Parliament, dated 22 May 2025, ranks first. It was unanimously adopted by the 55 deputies present (out of a total of 60), across all parties. This unusual interparty unanimity represented in parliament demonstrates the determination to send a clear and unanimous message to the Federal Council from Switzerland’s youngest canton. It is becoming clear that large sections of the civilian population in the canton of Jura neither understand nor accept the servile, pro-American attitude in federal Bern.
  The resolution urges the Federal Council to take action, which it details in eight specific points. These correspond to most of the other letters to Bern mentioned below, so they are reproduced here in a free translation from the official French document:

Official Switzerland should urge the Israeli government to agree to an immediate, total and permanent ceasefire. It should strongly condemn the bombing of civilian targets (hospitals, schools and emergency shelters) and all forms of collective punishment, and demand an immediate end to all forms of violence against civilians, in particular the deprivation of water, food, electricity and medical care. The Federal Council should express its solidarity with all innocent victims and urge the immediate resumption of humanitarian aid. The Federal Council should insist that children in Gaza, like all children around the world, have a right to life, security, dignity, education and a future. Finally, the Jura Parliament instructs its government to make every effort to ensure that the Federal Council works towards a cessation of hostilities and the safety of civilians, especially children.

The cities of Geneva and Lausanne
are also speaking plainly

Shortly afterwards, the two internationally highly respected cities of Geneva and Lausanne also broke the official silence with an urgent joint “Declaration to the Federal Council” dated 31 May 2025. They emphatically reminded Bern that Geneva (and thus Switzerland) enjoys international prestige, particularly as the birthplace of Henri Dunant, founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross (which has been based in Geneva ever since!), and as the city where the internationally recognised Geneva Conventions, especially the one on the protection of civilians in war, were signed. Their letter states:

Today, the signatory cities wish to reaffirm their solidarity with all victims, their commitment to upholding international humanitarian law and promoting peace. As a depositary state of the Geneva Conventions, Switzerland is in solidarity responsible for ensuring compliance with international humanitarian law and has a duty to denounce violations, call for compliance with international law and work towards the full and unhindered restoration of humanitarian aid, an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages. […] In view of the humanitarian tragedy currently unfolding in Gaza, Switzerland must no longer remain inactive and silent.¹

According to information from the city of Geneva (as of 3 June 2025), 36 other Swiss cities [meanwhile 60 cities, as of 15 June] have now co-signed the declaration, including nine of the ten largest cities, as well as Zurich, Winterthur and St. Gallen.

Urgent appeal from renowned
organisations and individuals

Almost simultaneously (with a transmission date of 27 May 2025), organisations and private individuals are addressing the Federal Council with a public “urgent appeal”. The Jewish Voice for Democracy and Justice in Israel/Palestine, the Swiss Humanity Initiative, Amnesty International Switzerland and Palestine Solidarity Switzerland, all active in Switzerland, are leading this open letter.² Anyone consulting the list of signatories will find other committed groups whose names and spheres of influence clearly demonstrate their commitment to understanding between Israel and Palestine. Among the 80 private individuals who were the first to sign are well-known names from the worlds of culture, science, churches (including Rabbis), peace activists and lawyers, including the two former Swiss Federal Councillors Micheline Calmy-Rey and Ruth Dreifuss.
  Their factual appeal reflects the full extent of the misery in Palestine. Their letter quotes the ICRC, which describes the situation on the ground as a horror that “challenges the foundations of our humanity.” Médecins sans frontières uses the terms “ethnic cleansing” and “mass grave for Palestinians and aid workers”. Amnesty International concludes that “Israel is committing genocide in Gaza”. In the name of compliance with international and human rights obligations, the signatories of this urgent appeal call on the Swiss Federal Council to immediately fulfil the ten demands they have listed. The urgent appeal concludes with the warning:

The continued inaction [of the Federal Council] in the face of documented serious crimes not only undermines the credibility of the international legal order. With its silence, the Federal Council also risks Switzerland bearing joint responsibility under international law for failing to prevent genocide.

Criminal charges have now been filed
with the Office of the Attorney General

Another group of active Jura citizens, the Collectif jurassien pour la paix à Gaza (Jura Collective for Peace in Gaza), has filed criminal charges with the Office of the Attorney General in Bern against the three incumbent Federal Councillors Ignazio Cassis, Karin Keller-Sutter and Guy Parmelin, as well as against the recently resigned Federal Councillor in the Swiss Department of Defence, Viola Amherd.³ The detailed criminal complaint calls on the Office of the Attorney General to “investigate the degree of potential complicity of the Swiss government in the war crimes committed and being committed by the current Israeli government by the four aforementioned members of the Swiss government.”
  Even stronger in its wording is the criminal complaint recently filed with the same authority by Council of States member Carlo Sommaruga (Geneva) against Federal Councillor Cassis. The first allegation is that Cassis has seriously damaged Switzerland’s reputation throughout the world by his evasive behaviour on the Gaza issue.
  The second reason for his criminal complaint carries even more weight for Sommaruga:

He [Cassis] allows his department to participate in the preparatory meetings for Israel’s alleged ‘humanitarian operation’. This is an operation based on the mass displacement of Palestinians and their concentration in camps controlled by the Israeli army, where aid is delivered by mercenaries, by American war veterans with blood on their hands. This is a betrayal of our Swiss humanitarian tradition. It is a national disgrace! It is high time that the entire Federal Council put an end to Ignazio Cassis’ subjugation to Israel.⁴

Appeal by former diplomats
to Cassis: ‘shocked by the silence’

In another public appeal, 56 former Swiss diplomats have signed a letter criticising the current head of Swiss diplomacy. They too see Bern’s passivity in the face of the current situation in the world as a fundamental threat, expressing this in the following words, among others:

We, former diplomats of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), are following the dramatic situation and the war crimes of the Israeli army with great concern. We are shocked by the silence, passivity and restraint of the FDFA and Switzerland. In order to ensure its credibility and consistency, Switzerland must abandon its unacceptable restraint and take action, adopting a series of positions and strategic measures coordinated with the UN, the European Union and the Arab League.

By this, the signatories mean

immediate rejection of the planned expulsion of the civilian population from Gaza and an end to Israel’s military use of the area, both of which are acts contrary to international law and constitute genuine ethnic cleansing and genocide as defined by the International Court of Justice.

Similar to Sommaruga, but also humanitarian organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières, Amnesty International and the Social Democratic Party’s recent Gaza appeal to Cassis, the diplomats also emphasise how important it is to insist that Israel immediately allow aid convoys unhindered access to those affected. The SP Switzerland’s (Social Democratic Party of Switzerland) Gaza appeal addressed to Cassis, which was submitted on 2 June and, according to the SP, now has over 130,000 signatures, states:

In particular, Switzerland should join the declaration by 24 countries – including Germany, France and Italy – calling for the immediate and complete resumption of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and support the Spanish government’s efforts to secure a corresponding UN resolution.

***

One thing makes the suffering in Gaza clear to the whole world: What can lay the foundation for a lasting solution to such persistent conflicts and the associated devastation in human relations within our deeply divided world? In recent articles, including some in this journal, one idea has been repeatedly mentioned from very different perspectives: the prerequisite for lasting peace is mutual respect for the existence and different ways of being of “the other”. Only this will bring a real solution. Sumaya Farhat-Naser is an impressive witness to this (see). She does with people who have been brought up to fear or despise “the other” what states and cultures should also strive for in their difficult relationships: teaching them to listen to each other, to respect each other, even or especially because of their differences. First, both sides must learn to respect “the other”.
  The non-aligned countries first postulated this respect at the beginning of the Cold War as a principle for how the big should treat the small and vice versa. The BRICS and similar organisations seem to want to revive it. The Chinese, drawing on Tzou-Enlai (who in turn drew on China’s world-famous sages Lao-tse and Confucius), have made something similar a principle. The Israeli historian Professor Shlomo Sand, who is critical of the government, recently stated quite clearly in a video interview: A solution that goes to the roots of the decades-long conflict over Palestine is only possible in this way – with mutual respect.⁵ This is certainly not easy in the case of Palestine, Israel, Gaza and the entire region, with its long history of suffering involving two peoples. But what else can help? •

¹ Official website of the City of Geneva: Statement by the cities of Geneva and Lausanne on the humanitarian situation in Gaza; https://www.geneve.ch/actualites/declaration-villes-geneve-lausanne-situation-humanitaire-gaza;  https://www.geneve.ch/document/gaza-appel-geneve-lausanne-villes-signataires-3-juin-2025
² The PDF file of the original under JVJP Jewish Voice for Democracy and Justice; www.jvjp.ch/: A bombshell from Swiss civil society: the widely supported open letter to the Federal Council
³ “Collectif jurassien pour la paix à Gaza. Criminal complaint against three federal councillors and the former defence minister”
⁴ Carlo Sommaruga on Facebook on 20 May 2025, 08:34; translation from the French.
⁵ Double interview from Tel Aviv with Jean-Daniel Ruch (Swiss diplomat and author) and the Israeli historian Shlomo Sand, who is critical of the government; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcDgVzlP_DY