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The Swiss Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said that it was in talks to hold an international conference that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had wanted to discuss the protection of civilians in Gaza.
“Switzerland has begun consultations with state parties to the Geneva Conventions, following an official Palestinian request that a conference be held by the end of the year”, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in its statement. It also underlined that for the conference will be held, a broad consensus among the 195 signatory states of the Geneva Conventions was needed.
The Geneva Conventions dictate code of conduct of soldiers during war and the treatment of civilians in warzones. Switzerland is the formal guardian of the agreement, which was originally made in the 19th century and revised after World War II, and as such had received the request from Abbas on July 9th.
Talks of a conference were prompted by the eruption of hostilities in Gaza, where over 1,300 have been killed in the past 23 days. It is likely that long-term concerns regarding the fate of Palestinians in the occupied territories will also be discussed during the conference.
Didier Burkhalter, President and Foreign Minister of Switzerland, responded to Abbas’ request formally on July 25th, the statement read. The Palestine leadership was able to make such a request because it had adopted the Geneva Conventions in April; it followed that up with a formal accession to several United Nations treaties in a drive to gain statehood. Palestine had gained non-member observer status in the UN in November 2012 in spite of fierce opposition from the United States and Israel.
Switzerland has urged Hamas and Israel to reach a ceasefire agreement so that its civilians are protected and aid can be sent to thousands of people in Gaza who have been injured or displaced due to the conflict.
