Switzerland urges Israel to lift medical limits on Gaza, reopen evacuation corridor

Children accompanied by their mothers disembark from humanitarian flights from Gaza, as part of the medical evacuation and reception operations carried out by the Italian government, at Milan Linate Airport in Milan, Italy (June 11, 2025) Keystone

Israel must lift restrictions on medicines and medical equipment for Gaza, Switzerland demanded in a joint declaration with other states.

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The text was signed in New York by Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, during the UN conference on the Middle East and the Two-State Solution. The medical evacuation corridor from Gaza to the West Bank must also be reopened.

This evacuation corridor should include East Jerusalem so that patients can receive the urgent care they need, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has reached an unbearable point.

Switzerland had already reiterated at the United Nations conference on the implementation of the two-state solution at the end of July that the two-state solution remained the only possibility for Israelis and Palestinians to “live side by side in peace, security and dignity within safe and recognised borders, in accordance with international law”.

Bilateral recognition of Palestine must be part of a lasting peace based on the two-state solution, the statement reads. Such recognition could be considered once concrete measures – guaranteeing both the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and Israel’s security – have begun to be implemented.

Switzerland firmly rejects the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, the settlements, annexations, and expulsions, and calls on all parties to respect their obligations under international law and international humanitarian law.

Cassis represented Switzerland on Monday in New York at the follow-up conference organised by France and Saudi Arabia. According to the foreign ministry, Switzerland supports the New York declaration, which resulted from the conference’s work on implementing the two-state solution. The declaration commits to concrete steps to end the war in Gaza, implement the two-state solution, and achieve regional integration.

Translated from French with DeepL/ds

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