Italian Civil society calls for concrete measures to stop genocide in Gaza

End the Extermination in Gaza

We are publishing the press release from Italian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that condemns the military intervention and the ongoing extermination in Gaza. The statement calls for the resumption of humanitarian aid, an immediate ceasefire, and respect for international law.
The press release is signed by the Platform of Italian CSOs in the Mediterranean and Middle East, and by the three networks AOI, CINI, and LINK2007.
CISP is a member of both Link2007 and the Platform of Italian CSOs in the Mediterranean and Middle East.

Rome, September 22, 2025 – The tragedy we are witnessing, culminating in the ongoing military offensive, makes the Israeli government’s objective clear to everyone: to annex Palestinian territory by eliminating or minimizing the presence of the population. Over the last 23 months, Gaza has been systematically destroyed, from the north to Rafah, and now also the city of Gaza, where civilians without shelter or medical care are dying from bombing, hunger and treatable diseases. The Israeli government aims to make the Strip uninhabitable, erasing the Palestinians’ right of return and self-determination.

The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry documented in a report published on September 16, 2025, that the Israeli government is committing at least four of the five acts prohibited by the Genocide Convention, with a clear destructive intent: what is happening in Gaza is genocide. The International Court of Justice has already imposed binding provisional measures for over a year and a half, and its advisory opinion of July 2024 reaffirmed the illegality of occupation and apartheid, calling for total withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories. The report also recalls the responsibility of the States Parties to the Rome Statute: they must cooperate with the International Criminal Court, provide evidence, protect witnesses and execute arrest warrants against those responsible for crimes.

The General Assembly once again voted by a large majority in favour of a resolution that echoes the New York Declaration and, reiterating its radical condemnation of the actions of Hamas and all attacks against civilians, commits Israel to dismantling its illegal presence in the occupied territories (the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem) and third countries to ceasing all forms of support for Israel.

The ongoing genocide is the result of decades of impunity. Continuing to ignore international obligations amounts to complicity.

Italy, as a State Party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Rome Statute, and a signatory to the New York Declaration, must assume its historical responsibility to work towards ensuring respect for international law and international humanitarian law.

As humanitarian and development civil society organizations, present in Palestine for decades, we ask the Italian government and those of the European Union to act immediately and decisively to:

• Halt any commercial or cooperation agreements with the Israeli government that favor the illegal occupation of the occupied territories.
• Impose sanctions on Israel for grave violations of international law and support sanctions that will be proposed within the European Union.
• Block the sale, purchase, or transfer of weapons, ammunition, equipment, and military services to and from Israel.
• Ensure the opening and functioning of all crossings to allow the entry of aid and humanitarian workers and to guarantee care for the sick and wounded inside and outside the Gaza Strip.
• Strengthen the commitment to impose an immediate and permanent ceasefire, end the occupation, and take all feasible steps to recognize the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
• Support the work of the International Criminal Court and other competent international courts, including by blocking the effects of unilateral sanctions promoted by the Trump administration.

The situation in Gaza is already irreversible: the crimes continue every day in total impunity. There is no more time for platitudes. What is at stake is not only the future of the Palestinian people but the credibility of international law and the future of humanity itself.

Rome, September 22, 2025

Platform of Civil Society Organizations in the Middle East and Mediterranean

AOI – Associazione Ong Italiane

CINI – Italian Coordination of International NGOs

LINK2007