If States had complied with the orders of the International Court of Justice, if they had taken all necessary measures to prevent, halt, and punish the Israeli genocide—as required under international law— we might have avoided finding ourselves today facing yet another illegal war and a major international crisis.

If they had suspended “trade and investment relations that contribute to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories,” as requested by the International Court of Justice in July 2024, the European Union would not continue to be Israel’s largest trading partner in the world, nor would it maintain its preferential agreements with Israel.

If they had pushed for Israel’s suspension from the United Nations General Assembly—as was done with apartheid South Africa—and if they had activated Resolution 377A (Uniting for Peace), designed to bypass vetoes in the Security Council, Israel would have faced diplomatic and political pressure.

If they had suspended relations and sanctioned crimes in January 2024, when the International Court of Justice had already issued provisional measures and warned of the risk of genocide, we would not be here today.

As members of the UN Commission of Inquiry noted in September 2025, from those January 2024 orders onward—“if not before”—States had the obligation to "prevent and punish", the obligation “to act, not merely to use fine words, but to act.”

As the judges of that Commission point out, this means that countries have the obligation to “suspend any relationship or transaction that contributes to the Israeli occupation” and to segregation (it should be recalled that the Israeli state is the primary driver of the occupation). They also indicate that this entails that countries must “withdraw their military attachés from their embassies in Israel and trade offices in that country”.

We have reached this point because, as the UN Special Rapporteur states in one of her reports, the genocide in Gaza has been “a collective crime,” in which several States facilitated it and at least 64 contributed in different ways. Many continue to do so today, maintaining trade, diplomatic and economic relations, and even military ties, including the procurement of military equipment or participation in joint arms production projects.