(Washington, D.C., May 20, 2025) — In response to the joint statement issued by the governments of the United Kingdom, France, and Canada on May 19, 2025 asking Israel to stop its renewed military offensive and stop blocking aid from entering Gaza, and to the UK's imposition of sanctions on Israeli settler networks, DAWN issues the following statement:
"Imposing sanctions on settler outposts and violent extremists in the West Bank is a step in the right direction but it's nowhere near enough to address the grave atrocities Israeli authorities are committing every day, every hour, every minute against Palestinians in Gaza," said Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN's executive director. "The U.K., France and Canada, together with the broader international community, must take immediate and concrete actions to stop the genocide and mass starvation in Gaza as a matter of fundamental moral and legal responsibility."
"The governments of the U.K., France, and Canada should introduce a resolution at the U,N. Security Council to authorize a peacekeeping mission in Gaza and impose an immediate no-fly zone to protect Palestinian civilians," said Raed Jarrar, DAWN's advocacy director. "Immediate, urgent intervention is required to end the blockade, allow the delivery of aid, and stop Israeli attacks on starving Palestinians."
"Now that European countries are acknowledging Israel's use of starvation as a weapon, the EU should go beyond targeted economic sanctions against individuals and suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, including the free trade agreement, and end diplomatic relations with Israel," said Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, DAWN's Israel-Palestine research director. "As Israel's largest trading partner, the EU has an obligation to use every piece of leverage it has to end this genocide."
