UN military force needed to halt Israel's assault on Gaza, tribunal says

The Gaza Tribunal Project calls on the UN General Assembly to set up a military force to stop massacres in Gaza

Palestinians gather to receive cooked meals from a food distribution centre in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on 18 August 2025 (Eyad Baba/AFP)

Palestinians gather to receive cooked meals from a food distribution centre in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on 18 August 2025 (Eyad Baba/AFP)

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A group of leading academics, legal experts and human rights advocates have called for the creation of a UN-mandated international military force to stop Israel's 22-month-long war on the besieged Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Monday, Richard Falk, the president of the Gaza Tribunal Project and a former UN special rapporteur, called on the international community to implement the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle.

"Law has failed, because it has not been enforced," Falk said at a press conference in Istanbul as he urged the international community to use R2P as a framework for intervention. He noted that the lack of enforcement had left Palestinians unprotected despite clear evidence of mass atrocities.

R2P is an international legal principle designed to prevent atrocities like genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. It emerged in the 1990s following global inaction during the genocides in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

Adopted unanimously by world leaders at the 2005 UN World Summit, R2P is enshrined in paragraphs 138 and 139 of the Summit Outcome Document. It has been invoked in over 95 UN Security Council resolutions.

These resolutions have addressed numerous crises, including conflicts in the Central African Republic, Libya, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Its most clear use was in Libya in 2011 to oust long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi following the Arab Spring uprisings.

In its statement, the Tribunal specifically called on the UN General Assembly to invoke the Uniting for Peace Resolution (377(V)) to authorise a multinational armed protection force for Gaza.

This force, the statement said, should remain in Gaza until Israel withdraws, the blockade is lifted, humanitarian aid flows freely and Palestinians are guaranteed internationally supervised elections.

The resolution, adopted in 1950, allows the UN General Assembly to take action when the Security Council is deadlocked, especially due to a veto by a permanent member.

It empowers the Assembly to hold emergency special sessions and recommend collective measures, including economic sanctions and the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.

Though not legally binding, it has been used in major crises like the Suez Crisis and the Ukraine conflict to bypass Security Council paralysis.

'Deadliest phase of the conflict'

Speaking at the press conference, Falk said that it was welcoming to see some of Israel's main partners, essentially European countries, announce plans to recognise Palestinian statehood, but he said it was distressing that they were reluctant to take substantial measures against Israel, such as imposing sanctions.

In recent weeks, several countries, including Australia, Canada and France, have announced plans to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September.

Meanwhile, the UK has conditionally said it will recognise a Palestinian state if Israel does not meet criteria that include agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.

Gaza aid drops: A salve for western guilt

Falk lamented some of the half-hearted measures and criticised the absence of political pressure within Israel on the Netanyahu government, calling it another obstacle that hinders the international community from taking decisive actions.

The Gaza Tribunal was established in late 2024 over what it called "the total failure of the organised international community to implement international law" in Gaza.

Its members include prominent figures such as Hilal Elver, Penny Green, Michael Lynk, Cornel West, Naomi Klein and Jeremy Corbyn, amongst others.

In Monday's statement, the Tribunal said that Israel's decision to escalate its campaign into Gaza City and central Gaza marked "the deadliest phase" of the conflict, and put nearly one million civilians at risk.

It said that a full occupation of Gaza would lead to a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation, resulting in unprecedented levels of famine and a lack of access to basic needs.

Israel has relentlessly bombed the besieged Gaza Strip since the 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel, displacing the entire 2.3 million population multiple times, and has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

Hamas and Israel reached a brief three-stage ceasefire in January, but the deal collapsed in March after Israel took back several of its captives and resumed bombing Gaza, walking away from the deal before talks with Hamas on a permanent end to the war could start.

Since then, the Trump administration has given Israel full backing to wage war on the enclave.

Gaza Under Attack

Istanbul, Turkey

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