The 102 former ambassadors and senior diplomats made the appeal in an open letter published by Le Monde on Saturday. They argued that France and the United Kingdom, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, should turn their recognition of Palestine in 2025 into concrete measures.
“Palestine is being erased before our eyes,” the signatories wrote, describing conditions in Gaza and developments in the occupied West Bank. They said Israel’s policies were undermining the possibility of an independent Palestinian state and criticised the destruction of homes and settler violence in East Jerusalem and elsewhere in the West Bank.
The diplomats said about two million Palestinians in Gaza were confined to 30% of the territory, which they described as devastated, while lacking adequate food, medicine and housing. 
They also alleged that house demolitions and settler violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem amounted to ethnic cleansing. Those descriptions are the signatories’ assessment rather than an independent finding by Gazatte.
The letter also condemned Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, describing the crimes committed that day as “heinous”. But the signatories said those attacks did not justify what they described as Israel’s systematic destruction of Gaza and its population.
Their proposed measures include suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement and the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement over alleged human rights breaches, suspending arms transfers to and from Israel, and ending bilateral military cooperation.
They also called for unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza, including access for journalists, diplomats and parliamentarians, and urged France and Britain to ban trade and financial services linked to Israeli settlements. The letter specifically highlighted the planned E1 settlement area east of Jerusalem.
The appeal comes one day after France, Britain and four other European governments jointly condemned Israel’s decision to issue construction tenders for the E1 settlement project. The governments said the project would divide the West Bank and undermine the territorial continuity needed for a two-state solution.
France formally recognised the State of Palestine in September 2025, with President Emmanuel Macron saying the decision was intended to support Palestinian self-determination and preserve the prospect of a two-state solution. The United Kingdom announced its recognition on 21 September 2025, saying it was intended to protect the viability of a two-state solution.
The former diplomats also called on Palestinian leaders to reunite Gaza and the West Bank politically, administratively and economically and to hold democratic elections. They said Palestinian institutions needed renewal and accountability alongside international action.
Among the signatories are former British ambassadors to the United Nations Sir Jeremy Greenstock and Sir Emyr Jones Parry, as well as former French ambassadors Yves Aubin de la Messuzière and Bernard Bajolet. Former French consul general in Jerusalem Frédéric Desagneaux and former British consul general in Jerusalem Sir Vincent Fean also signed the letter.
The appeal comes as European governments continue to oppose Israeli settlement expansion. In its 21 August statement, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway said Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law and called on Israel to withdraw its E1 plans.
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