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Elders call for decisive measures by states to halt unfolding genocide and famine in Gaza

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A statement by Mary Robinson and Helen Clark following their visit to Egypt and the Rafah border crossing, 9-12 August 2025.
 

Today we express our shock and outrage at Israel’s deliberate obstruction of the entry of life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza, causing mass starvation to spread.  The targeted killing of journalist Anas al-Sharif and four of his colleagues in Gaza is an attempt to silence the truth.   Truth matters.

What we saw and heard underlines our personal conviction that there is not only an unfolding, human-caused famine in Gaza. There is an unfolding genocide.

We saw evidence of food and medical aid denied entry, and heard witness accounts of the killing of Palestinian civilians, including children, while trying to access aid inside Gaza. The deliberate destruction of health facilities in Gaza means children facing acute malnutrition cannot be treated effectively. At least 36 children starved to death just in the month of July.

No shelter materials have entered Gaza since March this year, and we saw huge numbers of tents ready for delivery but blocked by the Israeli authorities.  This leaves families already displaced multiple times without protection.  96% of households face water insecurity.

Israel must open all border crossings into Gaza, including at Rafah, immediately.  

Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and UNDP Administrator, said:

“I was horrified to learn from UNFPA that the birth rate in Gaza has dropped by over 40% in the first half of 2025, compared to the same period three years ago.  Women lack access to safe places to give birth, and many do so with insufficient anaesthesia or pain-killers.  Many new mothers are unable to feed themselves or their newborn babies adequately, and the health system is collapsing.  All of this threatens the very survival of an entire generation.”    

The 1948 Genocide Convention was created in the aftermath of the Holocaust to prevent this crime ever happening again. But it is being flouted in word and deed by Israel in Gaza, and by powerful UN member states who are not holding Israel’s leadership to account.     

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said:

“Governments that are not using all the tools at their disposal to halt the unfolding genocide in Gaza are increasingly complicit.  Political leaders have the power and the legal obligation to apply measures to pressure this Israeli government to end its atrocity crimes. 

This is all the more urgent in light of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Gaza City takeover plan. President Trump has the leverage to compel a change of course. He must use it now.”  

We urge Israel and Hamas to re-engage in ceasefire talks and agree a deal.  Hamas must immediately release all the remaining Israeli hostages, and arbitrarily detained Palestinian prisoners must be released by Israel.

France and Saudi Arabia have shown commendable leadership by convening the recent New York conference on the two-state solution.  It is vital to build on this momentum before September, with collective action and implementation of the measures identified by the Working Groups to uphold international law.

We call for recognition of the State of Palestine by at least 20 more states by September, including G7 members, EU member states and others. We welcome Australia’s announcement in this regard. 

But this will not halt the unfolding genocide and famine in Gaza. 

Transfers of arms and weapons components to Israel must be suspended immediately.  We commend Germany’s significant decision to suspend exports of arms that could be used in Gaza, and urge others to follow.

Targeted sanctions should be imposed on Prime Minister Netanyahu and all members of his security cabinet.

States must also move to suspend existing and future preferential trade arrangements with Israel.  We urge a qualified majority of EU member states to invoke Article 2 and suspend the trade pillar of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.  The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund’s divestment from Israeli firms linked to violations of international law should catalyse governments, businesses and financial entities to take similar action.        

The uncomfortable truth is that many states are prioritising their own economic and security interests, even as the world is reeling from the images of Gazan children starving to death. 

ENDS

Note to Editors:

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), visited Egypt from 9-12 August 2025 to advocate for urgent measures to end the deliberate starvation and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. They visited Al Arish and the Rafah border crossing and held meetings in Cairo. They heard first-hand from humanitarian workers, Palestinian civil society, senior diplomats and Egypt’s political leadership about the worsening crisis in Gaza and the urgent actions needed to resolve it. This visit is part of the Elders’ work to support a sustainable two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Elders are very grateful to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, the Governor of North Sinai, the UN Country Team and the Egyptian Red Crescent for facilitating their visit to Al Arish and the Rafah border crossing.


For media inquiries, please contact William French, Head of Communications at The Elders (+44 7795 693 903), or email: [email protected]

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