This piece was originally published by Swissinfo on April 27, 2026.

Afghanistan has been shaped by its rich and diverse cultural history from ancient to contemporary times. Although blessed with a wealth of untapped resources, nowadays, millions of Afghans are preoccupied with survival. Life, for many, is a daily battle against hunger, degraded or non-existent essential services such as clean water, sanitation and health care. Mounting debt and profound levels of poverty make Afghanistan one of the poorest countries in the world. This raises questions as to whether Afghan lives matter to those governments which have orchestrated unprecedented levels of destitution.

This opinion piece focuses on the policies of different stakeholders who have prioritised penalising Afghan citizens by means of economic warfare – an agenda of manufactured poverty – rather than engaging with the Taliban authorities, who take pride in their infamous rulings however repulsive to others. These edicts reinforce the Taliban’s interpretation of Afghan culture and deep-seated norms that have long discriminated against women and girls.

Poverty in Afghanistan is not a new phenomenon. It can be traced, in part, to almost five decades of armed conflict, including a post 9/11 war economy that sharpened structural inequalities. The United States-led occupation aggravated weak and corrupt governance and fuelled impunity. It also contributed to the return of the Taliban to Kabul in August 2021.

The re-emergence of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – the official name of the Taliban administration – triggered a host of punitive measures by the US and its allies. This included the immediate cessation of economic support to Kabul that, previously, relied on Western funding for 75% of government expenditure. The US blocked $9.1 billion (CHF7.1 billion) of the country’s external, sovereign reserves in 2021. This handcuffed the central bank, or Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), thereby suffocating the economy and banking system. As Dr. Shah Mehrabi, a respected economist noted at the time, the DAB’s lack of access to its dollar-denominated reserves would undermine its historic ability to maintain a stable exchange rate and curb inflation. Indeed, in any setting, an economy cannot function effectively in the absence of an experienced and credible central bank.

Given the dire straits faced by impoverished and destitute Afghans, the United Nations organised a system to, literally, fly in cash dollars to support humanitarian programming. This also proved a lifeline for the DAB, which could use these US dollars, once lodged locally, to undertake regular currency auctions to stabilise the value of the afghani, the local currency. This, in turn, enabled financial transactions and commercial trade.

This “fly-in cash dollars” system is now in jeopardy given the dramatic reduction in Western funding for humanitarian action that began last year and the absence of support for sustainable development since 2021. The US, which had provided “more than 40% of all aid in 2024” to Afghanistan, ended its assistance in a sudden and brutal fashion in April 2025. Coupled with drastic cuts by other donors such as Germany and the United Kingdom, Tom Fletcher, the UN’s most senior humanitarian official, notedafter a visit to the country last year that the humanitarian sector, overall, would shrink and many vulnerable people would die.

Data shows that 21.9 million Afghans, or 45% of the population, are in desperate need of humanitarian action this year. More than a third of the Afghan population of 45 million are currently experiencing devastating levels of hunger. Soaring rates of acute food insecurity means that a “staggering 3.7 million children will need malnutrition treatment”, reports the World Food Programme. The closure of more than 420 health facilities this past year has contributed to a “3 to 4 percent increase in infant mortality” and a noticeable increase in maternal deaths.

The Politics of Collective Punishment

A loud cacophony of condemnation of repressive Taliban policies by politicians, human rights actors and others have effectively made Afghanistan a pariah state while ignoring how measures that have shackled the DAB continue to strangle the economy. This policy of collective punishment ignores how poverty further marginalises the women and girls who bear the brunt of the Taliban’s disabling restrictions – restrictions that inhibit their presence outside the home including access to education, health care and employment.

Unceasing poverty has stretched traditional coping mechanisms to breaking point. Extended family networks are key in times of stress, as is migration to neighboring countries, remittances, debt and sale of essential farming and household assets. The forced return of some 5.4 million Afghans from Pakistan and Iran primarily, as well as Europe, in recent times has scuttled the flow of remittances and intensified economic hardships. A UN report last year indicated that nine in ten families, including many female-headed households that tend to be hardest hit by poverty, use harmful coping practices to survive.

In September 2022, the US transferred US$3.5 billion – half of the blocked Afghan reserves – to a newly created Fund for the Afghan People in Switzerland, ostensibly for the benefit of Afghans. It was assumed that this would help ease the economic and liquidity crisis in Afghanistan. Initially, the Afghan Fund focused on developing in-house procedures but this past year it has, apparently, gone into hibernation mode as indicated by the pace and content of its Board meetings. These days, my enquiries on this matter go unanswered, unlike in the early days of the Fund. To me, it appears to be stymied by politics rather than inertia in organising measures to recapitalise the DAB, even though this means ignoring the fact that the blocked assets are the property of the Afghan people, whose deliberate deprivation means ever greater mortality rates.

Strong-arm tactics have shaped US decision-making since its hasty retreat from Afghanistan in 2021. In addition, an array of actors including Switzerland, which claim to be strong proponents of human rights and routinely broadcast their concern about the fate of Afghan women, are also complicit in policies that are inhumane and totally at odds with the notion of justice and a shared humanity.

Whatever the politics, Afghan lives do matter. This is reflected in a variety of initiatives that call for an end to manufactured poverty and the suffering it entails. From the outset, United Against Inhumanity (where I am engaged) and other groups called for an end to the arbitrary sequestration of Afghan assets and for the re-capitalisation of the DAB. This can be done gradually, by disbursing a minimum of $150 million monthly under an internationally monitored framework. States with a history of donor funding during the post 9/11 era should also invest in sustainable capacity-building programmess for Afghans, with a focus on livelihoods, including entrepreneurship options for women.

The post “Do Afghan lives matter?”, by Norah Niland. appeared first on United Against Inhumanity.

In response to Israeli authorities’ violations of international humanitarian law in Palestine and Lebanon, over 60 human rights and humanitarian organizations and trade unions call on the EU and member states to adopt long-overdue measures, including suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement, banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements and suspending all transfers and transit of arms to Israel.

Dear President von der Leyen,

Dear High Representative / Vice-President Kallas,

Dear Foreign Ministers of the EU member states,

We, the undersigned humanitarian and human rights organisations and trade unions, write to you as Israeli authorities escalate their brutal repression and illegal annexation policies in Palestine, and violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) in Palestine and Lebanon to urge you to adopt the long-overdue measures proposed by President von der Leyen in September 2025, in particular the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, along with any additional steps necessary to comply with international law, including banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements and suspending all transfers and transit of arms to Israel.

Already in June 2025, the EU had found Israel in breach of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which identifies respect of human rights and democratic principles as “essential elements” of the treaty. Ongoing actions by Israeli authorities in Israel, throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and in Lebanon further compound that breach, and are causing immense suffering to millions throughout the region.

Last month, the Israeli Knesset passed a discriminatory death penalty law that significantly expands the scope and application of the death penalty, in effect targeting Palestinians only. The law is not only an egregious violation of the rights to life and fair trial of Palestinians, but also adds to the growing body of discriminatory legislation and policies implemented by Israeli authorities against Palestinians, which the International Court of Justice has found to violate Article 3 CERD, which prohibits racial segregation and apartheid, in its Advisory Opinion of July 2024. Numerous UN bodies and experts, Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organizations, and renowned legal scholars, have also documented how these policies and legislation amount to the system and crime against humanity of apartheid.

In the occupied West Bank, Israel is accelerating its illegal annexation policies and practices and is intensifying repression and serious abuses against Palestinians. Since the start of the war with Iran and Lebanon, the situation has severely worsened. Since 28 February, Israeli authorities have imposed strict movement restrictions across the OPT. In addition to previously existing check-points, dozens of new road gates have been installed by Israeli authorities in the West Bank since October 2023, most of which are now closed, severely impacting Palestinians’ access to their lands, workplaces, schools, health and emergency services. Moreover, Israeli forces and state-backed settlers have increased attacks against Palestinians, with over 200 attacks in March alone, including reports of sexual abuse. According to UN OCHA this year Israeli forces and settlers have killed 34 Palestinians, including seven children and injured 771, including 97 children. Attacks are increasingly directed towards larger Palestinian villages in area B, spreading through the West Bank. Since October 2023, state-backed settler violence has led to the displacement of 38 entire Palestinian communities. Less than three months into 2026, 1700 Palestinians have been displaced, already surpassing the total for the whole of 2025. For violent settlers, impunity remains the norm: according to Israeli NGOs, only 3% of cases lead to a full or partial conviction. In contrast, for Palestinians the conviction rate in military courts is 99%. 

The increasingly lethal state-backed settler violence goes hand in hand with the acceleration of illegal settlement expansion and annexation policies through a set of measures recently adopted by Israel to displace and dispossess Palestinians in the West Bank. In August 2025, the Israeli Higher Planning Council approved the E1 plan, meant to cut through the occupied Palestinian land, with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for atrocity crimes, saying out loud that the E1’s goal is to ensure “that there will be no Palestinian state”. In illegally annexed East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities forcibly evicted 15 Palestinian families, including 29 children, from their homes in Batn al-Hawa in Silwan last month. At least 200 other families in the neighbourhood face the risk of forced eviction to enable the unlawful takeover of their homes by settler organizations.   

Meanwhile, more than 9560 Palestinians are held in Israeli detention, half of whom are held without charges or trial, either under administrative detention or under the Unlawful Combatants’ Law. Israel currently detains 351 Palestinian children, with more than half held in administrative detention without charge or trial. UN experts, Palestinian and Israeli NGOs have documented systematic torture and inhuman and degrading treatment against Palestinian prisoners, and Israeli authorities continue to deny the ICRC access to all places of detention.

In the occupied Gaza Strip, the Israel-made humanitarian catastrophe persists. Israel remains in breach of three binding orders of the International Court of Justice in the case brought by South Africa for alleged violation of the UN Genocide Convention, including to ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance, and to preserve evidence. The UN Commission of Inquiry, alongside numerous human rights organisations and legal scholars, has found that Israeli authorities have committed and are continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Since the start of a so-called ceasefire in October 2025, at least 736 Palestinians have been killed. Airstrikes, shelling and gunfire continues on both sides of the so-called “Yellow Line”, a temporary military demarcation that now risks evolving into an enduring territorial division. In the meantime, newly introduced registration requirements, which violate established humanitarian principles and data protection laws, allowed the Israeli authorities to further restrict the operational space for dozens of international humanitarian organizations.

Israeli policies throughout the OPT run counter the obligations laid out in the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which found Israel’s occupation to be unlawful and marred by serious abuses, including Israel’s breach of Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which prohibits racial segregation and apartheid. The Court clarified Israel should end its occupation, dismantle its settlements, allow Palestinians to return to their homes and provide them with reparations for the harm suffered. 

Several experts have warned about the possible “Gazafication” of the conflict in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have displaced over 1.2 million people, around one fifth of the country’s population, in their offensive against Hezbollah, following overly broad evacuation orders which do not constitute effective guarantees of protection. The Israeli military has targeted healthcare facilities and workers, journalists, and civilian infrastructure, including bridges, which will severely impact the ability to deliver food for the people who cannot or choose not  to leave their homes, and who should continue to be protected under IHL. Israeli authorities indicated the area would become a “buffer zone” in which all Lebanese homes in border villages will be destroyed and Israel will maintain control over the south of Lebanon up to the Litani river, as stated by Minister Katz. 

These developments come on the heels of decades of toothless EU statements of concern and calls for a “two-state solution” that have been largely ignored by Israeli authorities, to no consequences. We welcome commitments by five member states (Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Belgium, and The Netherlands) to ban imports of goods from illegal Israeli settlements, as required by international law and the ICJ’s advisory opinion of July 2024, and commend Spain for having already banned the imports of goods and advertisements of both goods and services from illegal Israeli settlements as of September 2025. We urge the EU to do the same, in compliance with Articles 3(5) and 21(1) TEU, and in line with its longstanding, unanimous condemnation of Israeli settlement policies as illegal and an “obstacle to a two-state solution” that the EU claims to pursue.

To date, no qualified majority has been reached in the Council to suspend the trade provisions of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, despite repeated calls from member states, Members of the European Parliament, civil society and the European public. This failure to act risks rendering the Association Agreement’s human rights clause meaningless in practice, further tarnishes the EU’s credibility and emboldens the sense of impunity fueling Israel’s growing abuses. We call on member states to support the suspension of the agreement, and urge the Council to reflect on the reputational, legal and most of all human consequences of continued inaction in the face of mounting evidence of crimes under international law committed by Israel both in Palestine and Lebanon. 

The European Union and its member states should immediately suspend all transfers and transit of arms, munitions, equipment, technology, parts and dual-use goods to Israel This obligation is not discretionary but arises under both EU and international law. Article 6 and 7 of the Arms Trade Treaty and the EU Common Position on Arms Exports requires states not to transfer arms to a recipient where a clear risk exists they might be used in serious violation of IHL, as is the case for Israel. In addition, Common Article 1 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions requires that States respect and ensure respect for IHL. While several member states have already suspended arms exports, we urge all remaining states to do so without delay. In addition, the EU should take coordinated action at the institutional level to prevent the transit of arms, components, and dual-use goods through its territory to Israel, including by closing existing regulatory and enforcement gaps. 

The patterns documented in this letter are the predictable consequence of decades of impunity: a failure by the international community to hold Israeli authorities accountable, and a willingness to allow political considerations to override legal obligations. What remains absent is the political will to act. The measures we urge in this letter, suspending arms transfers, banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements, and suspending the Association Agreement, are not mere political choices. They are legal obligations. The people of Palestine and Lebanon deserve action and accountability, not concerns and condolences. The time to act is long overdue.

Signatories: 

International: 

1. ACT Alliance EU
2. ActionAid International  
3. Amnesty International
4. Avaaz
5. CIDSE- International family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations
6. Caritas Europa
7. Ekō          
8. EuroMed Rights
9. Global Witness
10. Human Rights Watch
11. International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
12. Oxfam
13. Pax Christi International
14. SOLIDAR
15. United Against Inhumanity 
16. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) 

Member state-based: 

17. 11.11.11, Belgium
18. Action des Chrétiens pour l’Abolition de la Torture, Luxembourg
19. ActionAid Denmark      
20. Adala for All, France
21. Ambasada Rog, Slovenia
22. Avocats Sans Frontières, Belgium
23. Belgian Academics and Artists for Palestine (BA4P/BACBI), Belgium
24. Broederlijk Delen, Belgium
25. Centro Pace ecologia e diritti umani, Italia
26. CGIL, Italy
27. Christian Aid Ireland
28. CISS, Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud, Italy
29. CNCD-11.11.11, Belgium
30. Comhlamh Justice for Palestine, Ireland
31. COPE – Cooperazione Paesi Emergenti, Italia
32. COSPE, Italy 
33. Danes je nov dan, Inštitut za druga vprašanja, Slovenia
34. Dignity- Danish Institute against Torture, Denmark 
35. Een Ander Joods Geluid, The Netherlands
36. Entraide et Fraternité, Belgium
37. European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine, Belgium
38.  European Trade Union Network for Justice in Palestine, Belgium
39. FGTB-ABVV, Belgium
40. Gaza Group GCDG, Belgium
41. Glosa, Slovenia
42. International Committee Against House Demolitions – Germany 
43. Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Ireland
44. Jews For Palestine Ireland       
45. Junts Associació Catalana de Jueus i Palestins, Spain
46. Kairos Ireland
47. Law4Palestine, UK and Sweden
48. Nederlands Palestina Komitee, The Netherlands
49. Olof Palme International Center, Sweden
50. PAX, the Netherlands
51. Peace Institute, Slovenia
52. Platform of French NGOs for Palestine, France
53. Portuguese Platform of Development NGOs, Portugal
54. Pro Peace, Germany
55. Reka Si, Slovenia 
56. Sadaka-The Ireland Palestine Alliance, Ireland
57. Slovene Philanthropy, Slovenia
58. Solsoc, Belgium
59. The Rights Forum, The Netherlands
60. Trócaire, Ireland
61. Viva Salud, Belgium
62. Women for Peace, Finland      
63. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom WILPF Finland   
64.  Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom WILPF Italy
65.  Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom WILPF Spain

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Today, raise your voice and join the action

10 April marks six months since the Gaza ceasefire agreement was announced.

But Palestinians are still being killed, displaced and denied the conditions needed to survive.

What is being called a “ceasefire” is not delivering safety, dignity or recovery. Airstrikes continue. Humanitarian access remains obstructed. Humanitarian action is routinely undermined.  Families are still living in tents, struggling to find food, clean water and medical care. In the West Bank, settlement expansion, settler violence and forced displacement are intensifying.

That is why today we are joining a coordinated public action to say clearly:

This is not a ceasefire.
A real ceasefire means protection, access, accountability and survival.

Why this matters today

Today, various humanitarian actors released a humanitarian scorecard assessing the six-month mark of the Gaza “ceasefire” as endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2803 (2025).

The scorecard evaluates progress against the agreement’s own stated objectives — including civilian protection, humanitarian access, reconstruction, economic development and freedom of movement — and concludes that, on almost every metric, the ceasefire is failing the people of Gaza.

This confirms what Palestinians and humanitarian organisations have been warning for months: what exists in Gaza is not a ceasefire worthy of the name, but a reality of continued violence, deprivation and obstruction.

Since the ceasefire agreement was announced:

• More than 600 Palestinians have been killed 
• Well over 1,500 have been injured 
• Hundreds of bodies have been retrieved from under the rubble 
• People continue to struggle to access safe drinking water 
• Sewage is flowing in the streets 
• Less than 42% of health service points are operational, most only partially 
• More than 18,500 patients, including 3,800 children, need specialized care unavailable in Gaza because the health system has been devastated 

Meanwhile, global attention is shifting elsewhere. This means that the ground reality confronting Palestinians is less and less visible and risks being pushed out of public view once again.

Today’s action is about refusing that erasure.

What the scorecard calls for

• measures to enforce a definitive ceasefire across the whole of Gaza 
• an independent UN-mandated mechanism to monitor, verify and report violations 
• an independent and transparent system for processing and verifying humanitarian goods at Gaza’s crossings 
• the full and consistent opening of all crossing points into Gaza 
• a predictable flow of aid, including at least 600 humanitarian aid trucks per day 
• the restoration of the medical corridor between Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem 
• the immediate restoration of freedom of movement for Palestinians into and out of Gaza, including for urgent medical evacuations 
• the lifting of new Israeli restrictions on INGO registration and the guarantee that international organisations can operate freely across Gaza and the West Bank 
• concrete action by states that endorsed the New York Declaration in support of Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction 
• recovery plans that do not deepen confinement, forced displacement or social disintegration, but instead guarantee freedom of movement and access to property 

What we are calling for

• an end to bombings and attacks on civilians 
• full protection of civilian life 
• unimpeded humanitarian access 
• real consequences for violations by all parties 
• Palestinian-led recovery, dignity and justice 

Join the action today

Today, 10 April, you can take part in the collective social media mobilisation and help amplify the reality on the ground:

• post on your own channels 
• use or adapt the campaign materials already prepared 
• create your own content in your own voice 
• share the key facts and messages with your networks 
• amplify the newly released Gaza Scorecard 2026 

Suggested messages to post today

What is being called a ceasefire in Gaza exists in name only. People are still being bombed. Aid is still being blocked. Families are still being displaced. Hospitals are barely functioning. Children are still living in fear. This is not a ceasefire. Today, 10 April, join us in demanding a real one.

This is what a “ceasefire” looks like in Gaza: airstrikes before dawn, one meal a day, families waking up in tents, lack of clean water, aid trucks turned away, children living in fear. #ThisIsNotACeasefire

Six months ago, a ceasefire agreement was announced. But the violence has not stopped. Palestinian civilians are still being killed and injured. Gaza remains devastated by destruction and displacement. A ceasefire in name only cannot rebuild homes or protect families. #ThisIsNotACeasefire

Scorecard and briefing

Today’s mobilisation is strengthened by the release of the Gaza Scorecard 2026 and the media briefing held this morning with speakers including representatives from Oxfam, Save the Children, Refugees International and humanitarian medical experts.

Thanks to all the speakers who contributed to that briefing, and especially to Refugees International, Save the Children and Crisis Action for helping facilitate it.

Hashtags and tags

#CeasefireNOW
#ThisIsNotACeasefire
#LetAidIn

Instagram: @nowceasefire

Today, be part of it

Raise your voice.
Share the facts.
Join the action.

A ceasefire that does not protect life is not a ceasefire at all.

The post This Is Not a Ceasefire! Gazans continue to die as they struggle to survive appeared first on United Against Inhumanity.

As humanitarian and human rights organisations that have worked for years in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, we are appalled by the Israeli Knesset’s decision to approve a bill that makes death penalty effectively mandatory in the West Bank and which will de facto apply exclusively to Palestinians.

On 30 March, the Knesset approved a bill, introduced by the party of Minister of National Security Ben-Gvir, expanding the use of the death penalty in both military and civilian courts. Although Israeli law has long provided for the death penalty for cases of genocide and wartime espionage, Israel has not carried out executions nor imposed death sentences since 1962. This new legislation not only marks a significant regression: it also does so by imposing capital punishment on de facto ethnic or national grounds and by diluting basic legal safeguards.

In the West Bank – excluding East Jerusalem – the law imposes the death penalty as the default sentence for those convicted of intentional killings classified as acts of terrorism under Israeli legislation, allowing life imprisonment – and life imprisonment only – in “special circumstances” that are not specified in law. Military courts may impose capital punishment by a simple majority, even without a prosecutorial request. Sentences cannot be commuted or pardoned and must be carried out within 90 days. Notably, Israeli settlers in the West Bank are explicitly excluded from the scope of this provision.

Within Israel, civilian courts may impose the death penalty or life imprisonment for intentional killings, if they are committed with the aim of “negating the existence of the State of Israel.” 

Therefore, while the law does not explicitly reference ethnicity or nationality, it is effectively designed to target Palestinians exclusively. It also introduces an exceptional execution regime by hanging, characterised by secrecy, and limited access to legal counsel and external oversight.

The European Union has consistently held that capital punishment is cruel, inhuman, and incompatible with human dignity under all circumstances. But even beyond this principled stance, the new Israeli law breaches basic safeguards recognised by the international community to protect the rights of those facing the death penalty. Its discriminatory nature and lack of due process guarantee, violate the right to life and protections enshrined in international humanitarian and human rights law, such as the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention Against Torture.

Diplomatic engagement by the EU and its Member States urging Israel to reverse course has so far proven ineffective. This appalling development occurs amid an ongoing manmade humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which a UN Commission of Inquiry, multiple Palestinian, Israeli and international organizations, and independent experts have characterised as constituting genocide, and against the backdrop of an accelerating de facto annexation of the West Bank, as acknowledged by the International Court of Justice in its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024. The adoption of the death penalty law is thus part of a pattern of discriminatory policies and practices against Palestinians, which in the same Advisory Opinion the International Court of Justice has found to violate Article 3 CERD, which prohibits racial segregation and apartheid.

In furtherance of these policies, Israel has already crossed established EU red lines: the advancement of settlement construction in the E1 area, which breaks the territorial contiguity of the West Bank, with the intent to prevent a future Palestinian state; the ban on UNRWA and attacks on its facilities, including schools and clinics built and run with EU contributions; the expulsion of international NGOs through restrictive registration procedures; forced evictions of Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem; forced displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians and widespread demolitions of Palestinian homes and infrastructure in the West Bank, including EU-funded projects; persistent impunity for abuses by Israeli security forces and state-backed settler violence; reports of widespread and systemic torture and mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners; restrictions on religious freedoms; attacks on journalists; and denial of access to EU officials.

As also recalled by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kallas in her statement of 31 March, the EU-Israel Association Agreement establishes respect for democratic principles as an essential element of EU-Israel relations. A review conducted by the EU in June 2025 based on Article 2 of the Agreement found Israel in breach of its human rights obligations for serious abuses against Palestinians and violations of the laws of war, both in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Nine months on, the time for action is long overdue. The European Union must uphold its stated principles and legal obligations by finally suspending, as a minimum immediate measure, the trade component of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and adopting other measures, as proposed by President von der Leyen in September 2025.

Signatories:

1. 11.11.11
2. ACT Alliance EU
3. Act Church of Sweden 
4. ActionAid International
5. Amnesty International
6. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
7. Bystanders No More
8. Caritas Europa
9. Caritas MONA (Middle East and North Africa)
10. Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
11. Children Not Numbers
12. Christian Aid
13. CIDSE – International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations
14. CNCD-11.11.11
15. Cooperazione Internazionale Sud-Sud (CISS)
16. DanChurchAid
17. 80:20 Educating and Acting for a Better World
18. EuroMed Rights
19. Finn Church Aid
20. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
21. Human Rights Watch
22. Insecurity Insight
23. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
24. Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH)
25. Norwegian Church Aid
26. Oxfam
27. Pax Christi International
28. Public Commitee Against Torture in Israel
29. Trócaire
30. United Against Inhumanity
31. Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC) 

The post Israel/OPT: Adoption of death penalty law by the Israeli Knesset requires urgent EU measures – Joint statement appeared first on United Against Inhumanity.

UAI welcomes Chinese shuttle diplomacy that has resulted in Pakistan and Afghanistan agreeing to a ceasefire, allowing the citizens of both countries to enjoy Eid in a respectful and peaceful manner.

UAI also greatly appreciates the role of China—currently the penholder on Afghanistan in the UN Security Council (UNSC)—at the multilateral level, as well as its call on all “relevant countries to unfreeze and return the assets of Afghanistan’s central bank.” The seizure of Afghanistan’s sovereign external reserves—the property of the Afghan people—by the United States and some European allies occurred shortly after the return of the Taliban to Kabul in August 2021 and the withdrawal of US and allied forces.

This ruinous measure was a significant factor in cratering the economy and undermining the banking system. Described by UAI as collective punishment, it has contributed to alarming levels of poverty and debt, the collapse of livelihoods, and the use of adverse coping mechanisms such as the exchange of young girls in marriage or the sale of body parts, such as kidneys, to stave off hunger.

Underlining the need for increased, rather than reduced, support for humanitarian action, Chinese representatives at a recent UNSC meeting called on “traditional donors, particularly those countries that bear historical responsibility toward Afghanistan, to resume and increase their aid” as soon as possible.

China’s diplomacy for long-term peace and stability ‘a rare, trustworthy public good,’ says expert
Shen Sheng.

For further information, see the following link:
China calls for Afghanistan-Pakistan ceasefire, ‘serving as stabilizing anchor for regional security in turbulent world’
Published in The Global Times. March 18, 2026 https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202603/1357145.shtml

The post China Champions the Unfreezing of Afghanistan’s Funds appeared first on United Against Inhumanity.

International panel event
Thursday 19 March 2026
6:00–7:30 pm
Hosted by the Diplomacy Society of University College London (UCL), in collaboration with United Against Inhumanity (UAI)

United Against Inhumanity (UAI) and the UCL Diplomacy Society are pleased to invite students, researchers, activists and all those interested in international affairs and human rights to a timely panel discussion on the crisis in Myanmar, including the situation of the Rohingya.

This event builds on earlier collaborations between UAI and the UCL Diplomacy Society, including a joint panel in January 2023 and a workshop held in September 2025 with the support of the United Nations Association UK. Since then, important political, diplomatic and humanitarian developments have made this conversation even more urgent.

Why this event matters

Myanmar remains at the centre of one of the most serious and neglected crises in the world. The armed conflict continues, the Rohingya remain displaced and denied justice, and humanitarian needs are deepening both inside Myanmar and across the region.

At the same time, the international context is shifting rapidly. Aid budgets are being cut. New regional and global political alignments are taking shape. Hearings at the International Court of Justice have continued. Elections in Myanmar and Bangladesh have raised new questions about legitimacy, power and regional responsibility. Meanwhile, international actors including ASEAN, the UN and neighbouring states are under growing pressure to respond more effectively.

This event offers a space to reflect on these developments and to discuss what they mean in practice — diplomatically, politically and humanitarily.

What we will discuss

The panel will explore questions including:

• What is the likely trajectory of the armed conflict in Myanmar?
• What role can the UN, ASEAN and other international actors play?
• Is there any realistic prospect of ending military rule and moving towards democratic accountability?
• How far can the international humanitarian system respond to the crisis?
• What changes may emerge in refugee policy in Bangladesh and other host countries?
• Can cooperation between IOM and UNHCR be improved in support of Rohingya refugees?
• Is Rohingya repatriation a viable objective, or should other strategies be prioritised?
• What advocacy opportunities exist at this moment?

Panelists

The discussion will feature:

Laetitia van den Assum
Former Ambassador of the Netherlands and member of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, chaired by Kofi Annan (2016–2017)

Lucky Karim
Advocate with Refugees International and founder of Refugee Women for Peace and Justice

Dr Jeff Crisp
Former UNHCR official and UAI volunteer

Ewen Macleod
Independent Consultant

Chair: Dr Melanie Garson, UCL (TBC)

Join us

The event will take place in person at the UCL campus and is aimed especially at students from UCL and neighbouring universities, including King’s and LSE. Some guest speakers may join online if they are unable to travel to London.

The discussion will also be live-streamed on Zoom, and a recording will be made available afterwards.

Whether you are following developments in Myanmar closely or looking to better understand one of the defining humanitarian and diplomatic crises of our time, we warmly encourage you to join us.

The post Beyond Silence: Myanmar, the Rohingya, and the Politics of Inhumanity appeared first on United Against Inhumanity.

On Thursday, 5 March 2026, United Against Inhumanity will co-host, with the Geneva Graduate Institute, a public roundtable asking a pertinent and urgent question:

Economic Warfare: Do Afghan Lives Matter?

📍 Geneva Graduate Institute, Maison de la Paix
🕕 18:30–20:00 CET
🌍 Hybrid: In-person & online

Afghanistan may no longer dominate headlines — but the impact of sanctions, frozen assets, coerced returns, and economic restrictions is shaping daily life for millions.
Behind policy language lie very real consequences: collapsed livelihoods, shrinking public services, deepening poverty, and mounting vulnerability — particularly for women and girls.
This roundtable brings together leading experts and Afghan voices to examine:
The impact of seized sovereign reserves
The long-term effects of sanctions
The consequences of forced refugee returns
The intersection of economic pressure and Taliban governance

Speakers include:
Graeme Smith, Lead author ICG report “After the Aid Axe: Charting a Path to Self-reliance in Afghanistan”
Grégoire Mallard, Geneva Graduate Institute
Alessandro Monsutti, Geneva Graduate Institute
Norah Niland, United Against Inhumanity
Hassina Syed, Afghan entrepreneur

Moderated by Antonio Donini, United Against Inhumanity

This discussion forms part of UAI’s ongoing campaign to release Afghanistan’s sovereign, external reserves and challenge economic policies that perpetuate harm and suffering.

The post Economic Warfare: Do Afghan lives matter? appeared first on United Against Inhumanity.

The clock is ticking on a large part of the humanitarian response sustaining civilians in the
occupied Palestinian territory.

Thirty-seven international aid organisations have been ordered by Israeli authorities to cease
operations in the occupied Palestinian territory by the end of February under revised Israeli
registration rules. With efforts to force closures imminent, a group of leading humanitarian
organisations have taken the unprecedented step of jointly petitioning the Israeli High Court to
suspend the measures before irreparable harm is done to civilians who rely on their assistance.
On 30 December 2025, the affected organisations were formally notified that their Israeli
registrations would expire the following day and that they would have 60 days to wind down
activities in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The notification letter stated
that the decision could only be overturned if organisations completed the full registration
process, with which they cannot legally or ethically comply.

Efforts to force closures could begin as early as 28 February 2026. The effect would be
immediate, extending well beyond individual organisations to the wider humanitarian system. In
Gaza, families remain dependent on external assistance amid continuing restrictions on aid
entry and renewed strikes in densely populated areas. In the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, military incursions, demolitions, displacement, settlement expansion and settler
violence are driving rising humanitarian needs.

Palestinian Authority registration provides the lawful basis for international NGOs to operate in
Palestinian territory. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, an occupying power must facilitate
relief for civilians under its control. Conditioning humanitarian presence on sweeping
administrative demands, including the transfer of comprehensive national staff lists, alongside
vague and politicised grounds for denial, risks disrupting life-saving services and eroding the
obligation to ensure civilian welfare under occupation.

The demand to transfer personal data raises acute security and legal risks. It exposes national
staff to potential retaliation and undermines established data protection and confidentiality
safeguards. For European organisations in particular, compliance would create serious legal
and contractual liabilities. More broadly, such requirements set a precedent that could chill
principled humanitarian engagement in highly politicised contexts.
International NGOs have proposed practical alternatives, including independent sanctions
screening and donor-audited vetting systems, that preserve both compliance and staff
protection without disclosing personal data. No substantive response has been provided.
Enforcement has meanwhile begun in practice, including blocked supplies and denial of visas
and access for foreign staff.
Alongside UN agencies and Palestinian partners, international NGOs support or implement the
delivery of more than half of all food assistance in Gaza, 60 per cent of field hospitals’
operations, nearly three quarters of shelter and non-food item activities, all inpatient treatment
for children suffering severe acute malnutrition and 30 per cent of emergency education
services, in addition to funding over half of explosive hazard clearance.
The petition seeks an urgent Interim Injunction to suspend expiry of registrations and prevent
further enforcement pending judicial review. The petitioning organisations contend that these
administrative measures constitute an effort to curtail established humanitarian operations in a
manner incompatible with the obligations of an occupying power under international
humanitarian law.
Governments must act urgently to prevent implementation of these measures and to ensure that
humanitarian relief remains principled, independent, and unhindered. If these measures take
effect, aid will be impeded not because needs have eased, but because it has been rendered
optional, conditional, or politicised. At a moment when civilians depend on assistance to survive,
that outcome would carry immediate and irreversible human consequences.
Petitioners and supporting organizations

All We Can

• ActionAid Australia
• Alianza Por La Solidaridad
• Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA)
• Bystanders No More
• CADUS e.V.
• Choose Love
• Christian Aid
• Churches for Middle East Peace
• DanChurchAid
• Danish Refugee Council
• Diakonia, Sweden
• Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International
• medico international
• Middle East Children’s Alliance
• Movimiento por la Paz, Desarme y Libertad – MPDL
• Muslim Aid
• Nonviolent Peaceforce
• Norwegian Church Aid
• Norwegian Refugee Council
• Oxfam
• Pax Christi International
• Première Urgence Internationale (PUI)
• Pro Peace
• Refugees International
• Start Network
• Tearfund
• Terre des hommes Italy
• Terre des hommes Lausanne (Tdh)
• United Against Inhumanity
• Weltfriedensdienst e.V. (WFD; World Peace Service)
  

Notes to Editor:

Executive Summary – Joint Petition against the Inter-Ministerial Team:

Introduction
This Petition is filed by 17 leading international humanitarian aid organizations (INGOs) and the
Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) which form the critical infrastructure
for providing medical services, food, and water to the civilian population in the West Bank and
Gaza. The Petitioners challenge the Respondents’ December 2025 decision, which orders the
“termination of their activities” due to their refusal to provide personal contact details (Nominal
Lists) of thousands of local employees. The Petition presents an unprecedented “legal
deadlock” in which the demands of the Israeli administration directly contradict international
privacy laws and the fundamental principles of humanitarian neutrality.

Urgent Request for an Interim Injunction
The Petitioners seek an interim Injunction to preserve the status quo and prevent the expiration
of their registration, the deportation of foreign staff and cessation of all activities until a final
ruling is reached. It is argued that the “Balance of Convenience” clearly favors the Petitioners:
while the Respondents will suffer no harm by maintaining the current situation, the cessation of
the organizations’ activities will lead to a humanitarian collapse and irreparable harm to the right
to life and health of hundreds of thousands of individuals in need.

Legal Arguments

A. Breach of the Inter-Ministerial Team’s Basic Obligations as an Administrative Authority

The Respondents’ conduct is tainted by administrative laches (undue delay) and a lack of good
faith. The Respondents delayed their response to registration requests for many months while
creating a false representation that the applications were under review. These draconian
requirements were imposed without granting a Right to be Heard and without meaningful
dialogue, violating the heightened duty of fairness applicable to the authority.

B. The Requirement for Employees’ Personal Details (Nominal Lists)
· B.1 GDPR Regulation and the “Adequacy” Issue: The Petitioners, who are bound by European
law, demonstrate that transferring employee data from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt)
to Israeli security authorities constitutes a criminal and administrative offense. Since the
European Union’s “Adequacy” decision regarding Israel does not apply to the territories, the
organizations are exposed to heavy fines and tort claims. The Petition relies on the Schrems II
precedent of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which prohibits data transfer to
jurisdictions lacking independent judicial oversight over security agencies.
· B.2 The Demand for Employee Details and Violation of International Law: The requirement to
provide personal phone numbers and contact details of the entire staff violates the principle of
“Data Minimization” and endangers the personal safety of the employees. Turning humanitarian
organizations into an information-gathering arm for a party to the conflict stands in total
contradiction to the principle of neutrality.

C. The Decision for a Sweeping Cessation of Activity is Void Due to Illegality
· C.1 Decision Lacking Authority (Ultra Vires): The Team’s government mandate is limited to
technical registration and visas. Assuming the authority to order the termination of an
international organization’s activities is an extreme deviation from authority without an explicit
legal source.
· C.2 Deviation from Israel’s Sovereignty (Oslo Accords): Pursuant to the Civil Annex of the Oslo
Accords, the authority to register and manage NGOs operating in Palestinian Authority
territories was transferred to the Palestinians. Israel lacks the authority to order the closure of
these entities.

D. Regulation Article 8.4 – Voidness due to Lack of Authority and Breach of International Law
The Petitioners challenge the article in the regulation that allows for the suspension of
registration based on vague “security considerations” without a duty of specification or
reasoning.
· D.1 Applicability of Article 63 of the Fourth Geneva Convention: This article imposes an
obligation on the Occupying Power to allow relief societies to continue their work. The Petition
relies on expert legal opinions establishing that this provision fully applies to International NGOs
(INGOs) performing essential humanitarian functions.

E. Extreme Unreasonableness and Lack of Proportionality

The decision fails the “Proportionality Stricto Sensu” test: the limited administrative-security
benefit of collecting phone numbers is dwarfed by the catastrophic human damage caused by
withholding aid from the population. The Respondents refused to consider “less restrictive
means,” such as cross-referencing names against public global terror lists.

F. Violation of Israel’s Obligations to Facilitate Humanitarian Aid

As an Occupying Power, Israel bears positive obligations (Articles 55, 56, and 59 of the
Convention) to ensure the supply of food and medical services. Arbitrary and bureaucratic
interference with organizations fulfilling these duties constitutes a blatant violation of
international law and the directives of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The post Humanitarian organisations petition Israeli High Court as closure deadline approaches appeared first on United Against Inhumanity.

Having worked for years among refugees, people who fall in the interstices of state protection and need international protection, has led me to think critically about the nation-state, which has become today the sole political system considered as legitimate for organising collective life. The refugee might indeed be the political figure of our times, just as the citizen was during the French Revolution. It is a source of existential anxiety for nation-states, considering that the principle of non-refoulement – so central to international refugee law – represents a limitation of the prevailing doctrine of state sovereignty, constructed on the right to control a territory and its population and therefore to exclude non-nationals.

I had always considered that Jewish diasporic history offered a source of inspiration to imagine transnational forms of political participation. Indeed, the very notion of diaspora invites us to think beyond the normative framework of the nation-state and resist against the ideology of cultural homogeneity. It opens the possibility of transversal connections, through which separate places effectively become linked together by multiple attachments and social ties cutting across national borders. It might be a conceptual alternative to the prevailing model of the nation-state, based on the triad of population-language-territory, which restricts political rights to people supposed to share a cultural identity and dwell in a delimited piece of land. By contrast, Zionism endorses the universalisation of the nation-state as the only entity able to offer protection to people and harmoniously organise social life. 

For years, I tried to keep a certain distance from Israel and Palestine. Conducting research on Afghanistan and among Afghans, I felt I already had my load of human suffering. But I could not decline the invitation through Basil Farraj, a former PhD candidate of the Institute who is currently professor at Birzeit University, to participate in the inaugural Ramallah Congress on the Decolonisation of Palestine, jointly conveyed by Progressive International, the Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies at Birzeit University, and Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network. I travelled in the region between the 8^th and the 17^th of November 2025. 

Some twenty delegates – parliamentarians, journalists, lawyers, scholars – from Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States participated. Crossing the border from Jordan was already an experience that introduced us to the prevailing ambiance. We had been informed of the possibility that our electronic devices might be checked by the Israeli border guards. As a consequence, we were advised to purge our cell phones from anything that could be related to the Congress and remove apps that could be seen with suspicion, such as Signal and Telegram. This set the tone. And indeed, during the whole trip, the omnipresence of the surveillance technology implemented by the Israeli state provoked in me a feeling of unease that I never had before, even in undemocratic places where I travelled, such as Afghanistan, Iran, or Syria.

As of the first day in Ramallah, we were able to visualise the political topography of occupation and colonisation. Every hill surrounding the city was occupied by Israeli settlements, which behind high fences looked like military outposts. Like a scar in the landscape, the ugly concrete wall separates local villagers from their agricultural lands. Its security purpose did not appear clearly. Palestinian society is under siege. I was overwhelmed with a sense of asphyxia. 

For the following two days, we attended a conference on the campus of Birzeit University. A variety of topics were addressed ranging from settler colonialism, the economic dimension of occupation, the right to education, access to land and agriculture, the role but also the limitation of international law, the principles inspiring the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement. Some presentations were more analytical, some others more everday but poignant testimonies of what it means to live and study under occupation. Unlike in Afghanistan, the political administration and humanitarian apparatus were left outside the scope of the discussion by successive speakers. The Palestinian Authority appeared discredited and UNRWA was not considered as very relevant when it came to political solution.

A smaller group of delegates, of which I was a part, extended their stay to travel throughout occupied Palestinian territory. With the Bisan Center, a Palestinian civil society organisation that promotes among other things community development programmes, we had the opportunity to visit the region of Tulkarm, in the north of the West Bank. We met farmers who showed us their vegetable gardens and olive groves. They described the raids conducted by the settlers. These are more and more frequent and violent since 7 October 2023.

Settlers burn trees and poison the land to render it unsuitable for agriculture. The landscape conveys a clear picture of dispossession. This includes multiple check points, yellow and the orange gates that may be closed without prior notice which renders every journey a random venture, the omnipresence of settlements overlooking Palestinian villages. We pass billboards with the inscription “No Future in Palestine” in Arabic, sometimes illustrated by an image of Palestinians being expelled from Gaza. Like the thousands of Israeli flags bordering some roads, it is a campaign by a settler group whose final objective towards Palestinians is all too evident. And indeed, we also had the opportunity to see the refugee camps of Tulkarm and Nur Shams, emptied manu militari from their populations in the summer of 2025. As night fell, they appeared as black holes at the edge of the town.

With colleagues from Sabeel, an ecumenical liberation theology center, we toured Jerusalem and Bethlehem. We also went to the Bedouin village of ‘Umm al-Kheir in the South Hebron Hills. Forcedly displaced from the Negev in 1948, these families purchased some land on the southern edges of the West Bank. After all these years, they are now encircled by Israeli settlers, who are becoming more and more aggressive. During our visit, some Israeli vehicles started to circulate around us while filming us through the windows. Eventually, two young women and a man, fully armed, came to indicate that we were in a military zone. After some tense exchanges, another man arrived. He shouted at us, hostilely, that we had 4 minutes to clear off. Like his colleague, his face was covered. He wore a balaclava and sunglasses, but his uniform had no military insignia indicating his Unit. When we left, he followed us on the road for 20 minutes. 

I will keep a vivid memory of many encounters, be it with a Jewish peace activist who considers that the humanist legacy of Judaism has to be protected from the Israeli apartheid regime and genocidal action, or with the director of an organic farm saying that Palestinians do not just want peace but want freedom. My trip to a dystopian land, a giant field for testing surveillance technologies and weaponry, was quite traumatizing but also uplifting given the fortitude of those I met. Facts are so crude that they speak for themselves. But I was equally shaken by my return to Switzerland. The complicity of Western authorities is no longer possible to ignore. Peace and justice are not a means to an end but an imperative human right. For Ilan Pappé, the great Israeli historian, the ideological project of the Israeli state is collapsing from within.

Relying on the principle that only people supposed to share a cultural identity and dwell in a delimited piece of land may live harmoniously together, the two-state solution enshrines the prevailing model of the nation-state that I mentioned at the beginning of this brief article.

Can’t the Holy Land be a place where the meaning of living together is reinvented in an inclusive way?

Don’t we all have a responsibility towards Palestinians as well as Israelis?

I am reminded of Omar El Akkad’s recent book: “One day, everyone will have always been against this”. Could this be today?

About the author: Professor Monsutti works at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, in Geneva.

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author of the presentation and do not necessarily represent the views of United Against Inhumanity (UAI).

The post “Travelling in a Dystopian Land: Occupied Palestine” by Alessandro Monsutti. appeared first on United Against Inhumanity.