Conditioning life-saving aid is illegal and perpetuates genocide

While we welcome – and call upon peace-loving States to join – France’s declared intent to establish military-escorted humanitarian corridors to Gaza as a necessary but belated response to the Israeli-engineered famine (IPC Phase 5), we strongly advise France to stop perpetuating the illegal Israeli rhetoric and policy of instrumentalizing aid. It is exactly this instrumentalization of aid upon which Israeli forces have been relying to escalate the genocide and continue one of the most severe and systemically executed atrocities in recent memory.

France’s proposal to condition humanitarian aid on the absence of any political actor, party or military group constitutes a gross violation and unilateral, illegal, redefinition of its binding obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law; it further entrenches France’s ongoing breach of these duties through its continued provision of diplomatic cover, arms exports, and political support to Israel amid an internationally recognized and plausibly genocidal siege.

France must comply with its peremptory obligations under international law, including erga omnes and erga omnes partes duties under the Geneva and Genocide Conventions. The ICJ has consistently affirmed that occupying powers have a non-derogable duty to ensure unimpeded humanitarian relief. In its 19 July 2024 Advisory Opinion, the Court reaffirmed that Articles 55 and 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention require the provision of food, water, medicine, and medical care without adverse distinction or political preconditions. The Court’s Provisional Measures Order in South Africa v. Israel further directed Israel to enable immediate humanitarian access and cease acts plausibly constituting genocide. The ICJ explicitly found that Israel’s restrictions on aid access in Gaza breach these obligations. Conditioning relief on the absence of any political or military actor violates the principle of distinction, constitutes collective punishment, and contravenes jus cogens prohibitions against starvation and forced displacement.

As a High Contracting Party to the Geneva Conventions, a State Party to the Genocide Convention, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, France bears an aggravated duty to:

1. End the instrumentalization of aid:
   Conditioning humanitarian relief violates UNSC Resolution 2417 (2018), which prohibits starvation as a weapon of war and requires “rapid, safe and unhindered” access.
2. Uphold international law:
   France must not legitimize measures — including the siege of Gaza — that have been judicially deemed plausibly genocidal and incompatible with occupation law.
3. Enforce ICJ orders:
   All States are bound to prevent genocide, including by stopping Israel’s obstruction of humanitarian aid.
4. Protect non-derogable rights:
   Access to food, water, and medical care are immediate legal entitlements, not subject to political conditions.