Five Swiss cities have called on the federal government to do more over Gaza. In a joint statement on 19 September 2025, ahead of next week’s UN General Assembly session, they appealed to the Federal Council’s conscience and engagement in upholding international law, to which it is a signatory.
The mayors of Biel, Geneva, Lausanne, Luzern and St Gallen argued that the UN gathering was a decisive chance to mobilise opinion and censure Israel’s actions. They cited the New York Declaration adopted on 12 September 2025, which reaffirmed support for a two-state solution. Switzerland, as depositary of the Geneva Conventions, they added, has a duty not only to enforce humanitarian law but also to prevent and punish genocide.
The intervention follows a report by a UN-mandated commission of inquiry, which concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza as defined by international law. Geneva’s city council went further, urging Bern to back the Global Sumud Flotilla seeking to break Israel’s blockade, and to push for international protection and humanitarian corridors by all possible diplomatic means.
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