Johann Soufi, lawyer and former head of the legal department of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees in Gaza, believes that the platform signed by France, Jordan and Egypt, to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza testifies to the impotence of these States.
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“We may be surprised by this admission of helplessness that this platform represents”reacted Tuesday April 9 on franceinfo, Johann Soufi, lawyer specializing in international criminal law and former head of the legal department of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza between 2020 and 2023.
Monday April 8, French President Emmanuel Macron, his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, and King Abdullah of Jordan called for a ceasefire “immediate” in Gaza, in an unprecedented column published in France in the newspaper Le Monde. The leaders also demand the release of “all the hostages”.
Everything is not to be thrown away for the lawyer since the platform designates “war as an impasse” but Johann Soufi regrets the form the message takes: “The presidents of three states, including a nuclear power (for France) and the main military power in Africa (for Egypt) are so powerless that they are reduced to writing an op-ed in a newspaper, as could be done any member of civil society”, he laments.
For him, words mean little in the face of the drama of the situation: “In December there were already 20,000 victims, 30,000 at the end of February, the risk of genocide was recognized in January and we are still writing op-eds in Le Monde”he exclaims, campaigning for action: “we must implement international law, with economic and diplomatic sanctions, an arms embargo”deploring in passing, “inaction after Security Council resolution calling for ceasefire”.
