Former French Prime Minister: What’s Happening in Gaza Is “Deliberate Genocide”

“In Gaza, before our eyes, a genocide is unfolding,” Villepin wrote, citing deliberate acts of bombardment, famine, and deprivation of water and medicine. He emphasized that these are not incidental consequences of war but calculated strategies aimed at the systematic destruction of the Palestinian population.

Villepin praised historians and organizations that have used the term “genocide,” including Omer Bartov, Amos Goldberg, B’Tselem, and Physicians for Human Rights. “Silence is complicity,” he stated. “Naming is the beginning of action.”
Recalling the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, Villepin lamented the international community’s repeated failure to prevent such atrocities. He warned that “voluntary blindness, indifference, and moral paralysis” are the conditions that enable genocide.
He directly blamed Israeli government policies for the crisis, asserting that the destruction of the Palestinian people is being pursued openly, with support from the United States and complicity from European nations. According to Villepin, the colonial vision behind this project views all Palestinians—even children—as obstacles to the dream of a “Greater Israel.”
In his call to action, Villepin urged:

Suspension of international agreements with Israel
Support for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders at the International Criminal Court
Immediate delivery of humanitarian aid
Unrestricted access for journalists to Gaza
Formal recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state

He appealed to citizens, artists, intellectuals, and activists from Paris to Johannesburg, New York to Tokyo, to raise their voices and reject media narratives that portray perpetrators as victims. “Do not let history record that you remained silent while knowing the truth,” he warned.
The op-ed comes amid an unprecedented escalation of violence and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as global protests and calls for accountability continue to grow.