Despite international demands for a cease-fire, Israel continues its genocidal onslaught on Gaza. An international military force to protect civilians is now urgently needed. Thousands of people around the world have joined the Protect Palestine campaign demanding an international military intervention to stop the genocide.
Campaign Launches with Call to Action to Hague Group States
By Protect Palestine, April 15, 2025
The Protect Palestine campaign launched at the start of April 2025 with the objecive of establishing an international military force to stop the genocide, ensure unhindered humanitarian aid, protect civilians and guarantee Palestinian self-determination.
A CALL TO ACTION FROM CIVIL SOCIETY
“We call upon governments worldwide to immediately establish and deploy an international military force to protect civilians, ensure unhindered aid throughout occupied Palestine and guarantee the Palestinian right to self-determination”.
The campaign was kickstarted with a call to action to the 8 states of the Hague Group for Palestine with a coordinated email campaign to UN Missions of these states urging that they form a coalition to conduct a military intervention to stop the genocide.
Annoucement of the launch of Protect Palestine was made at a street demonstration on 12th April 2025. A call was made to members of the public to endorse the campaign to establish a military intervention to stop the genocide.
Within the first week of launching the campaign, thousands of people from around the world have joined the campaign. We will now build momentum for this movement to stop the genocide of Palestinians.
Petition: Urgent International Military Protection for Palestinians
Protect Palestine Campaign Demands
STOP THE GENOCIDE
In January 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel is “plausibly” committing genocide in Gaza, ordering immediate action to prevent further atrocities. However, Israel ignored this ruling and intensified its military operations. The international community must act now to stop this genocide and protect Palestinian lives. Read more…
PROTECT CIVILIANS
Since October 2023, Israel has unleashed in Gaza— a blockaded occupied enclave of Palestinian land with 2.3 million inhabitants — the most sustained and intense bombing campaign of a populated area in history, and cut the civilian population off from necessities required for their survival, including food, water and electricity. Read more…
ENSURE HUMANITARIAN AID
Israel continues to impose an illegal blockade on Gaza, curtting off essential supplies like food, water, and medical aid. The Israeli government’s attacks on humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), have further hindered aid delivery, intensifying the suffering of Gaza’s population. Read more…
GUARANTEE SELF DETERMINATION
The Palestinian people’s right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law, enshrined in the UN Charter. For decades, Israel’s illegal occupation and military actions have undermined Palestinians’ ability to exercise this right. Read more…
Hague Group – CALL TO ACTION
The Hague Group was established on 31 January 2025. It is a coalition of States committed to ensuring justice for the Palestinian people and removing obstacles to their right to self-determination. It aims to end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land and hold Israel accountable for its crimes under international law through international courts. The eight founding Member States are: Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa.
Protect Palestine is calling upon these States to take the lead in establishing an international military force to stop Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, protect civilians, ensure unhindered humanitarian aid, and guarantee the right to self-determination for the Palestinian people.
Protect Palestine Campaign – Hague Group email Template
We encourage people worldwide to email representatives of the Hague Group to support this call.
More About the Protect Palestine campaign
International Law
The establishment of an international military force to protect Palestinian civilians, facilitate humanitarian aid and ensure self determination is both justified and required under international law.
Duty to Prevent Genocide
The evidence that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is clear. In February 2024, the International Court of Justice determined that there is a risk that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and ordered legally binding measures to prevent irreparable harm. However, Israel has breached these orders, including by launching an offensive in to Rafah and restricting humanitarian aid in to Gaza.
Apart from the legally binding ruling of the International Court of Justice, evidence that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza has been provided by a wide range of UN officials, human rights organisations and journalists. This has included large-scale civilian deaths, with 70% of those killed being women and children, targeting of densely populated civilian areas, hospitals, schools, universities and refugee camps, destruction of infrastructure including water, electricity, transport and food supplies, mass forced displacement of over 2 million Palestinians, widespread use of torture, rape and sexual violence in Israeli detention centres, as well as explicit statements of genocidal intent from Israeli government representatives.
International law imposes obligations on all other states when there is a risk of genocide. This includes, condemning incitement to genocide, using diplomatic, economic, legal and military means to prevent and restrain the state at risk of committing genocide. It also includes an obligation to refrain from aiding or supporting parties committing genocide, including by means of arms sales, funding, or political cover.
These responsibilities are codified in the Articles on State Responsibility adopted by the International Law Commission (ILC), which emphasize that complicity or failure to act to prevent genocide breaches international obligations, and that states can be held accountable for their breach of obligations.
Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is an international law principle that holds states and the international community accountable for preventing and responding to mass atrocity crimes, including genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. It was endorsed by UN member states at the 2005 World Summit and is rooted in international law principles, including sovereignty and human rights.
Its core pillars include a duty to take timely and decisive action to prevent atrocities and genocide, including the duty to take coercive measures like sanctions or military intervention as a last resort. Under these obligations, states must not aid or abet perpetrators of atrocity crimes, including through arms sales or political backing and must investigate and prosecute individuals responsible for violations, through mechanisms like the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Armed Protection
The provision of military protection for civilians in armed conflict is a well established component of options available to states within international law. This establishment of such a military force can be done via the United Nations Security Council or by states conducting a humanitarian intervention.
Within the United Nations framework, Art.42 of the UN Charter gives power the UN Security Council to authorize the use of military force, which can take action by air, sea, or land forces as necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. There are a wide range of precedents in which a military force has been established including missions in Kosovo (UNMIK), East Timor (UNTAET), and Rwanda (UNAMIR). However, abesent authosation of the UN Security Council, several states including the USA, UK and France have relied on humanitarian justifications for the use of military force.
Conclusion
Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people is ongoing, with mass atrocities including bombing of schools, hospital and refugee camps frequently reported. After over a year of massacres in defiance of legally binding orders made by the International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court, United Nations General Assembly, UN Secretary General, UN Human Rights Committee as well as states and civil society organisations over the world, the provision of a military force to protect civilians is now a humanitarian and legal necessity.
UN Special Rappourteurs on Human Rights Call for Protective Presence in Occupied Palestinian Territory
Experts hail International Court of Justice declaration on illegality of Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory as “historic” for Palestinians and international law. Read more…
Israeli Government Leaders Announce Plans to Annex Gaza
Israels leaders hold conference to encourage resettlement in Gaza in contravention of international law, rulings made by the International Court of Justice, demonstrating intent to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza. Read more…
Take Action to Stop the Genocide
Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinian people. Already, at least 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, approximately 44% are children. The UN Secretary General has described Gaza as a “graveyard for children”, enduring circumstances that UNICEF has described as apocalyptic. Take action here…
Source: Protect Palestine
Also see:
* Is This What Peace in the Middle East Looks Like?
* Why Did the IDF Destroy Gaza’s Healthcare Facilities?
* ICC Orders Arrest of Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif for War Crimes