Palestine was actively involved in the process to develop a Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and was among the first group of states to endorse the Political Declaration in Dublin in November 2022. At the endorsing conference in Dublin, Palestine stressed that ending the use of explosive weapons in populated areas is the most effective way to protect civilians, and that it views this Declaration as a positive step forward towards an avoidance policy. It also expressed hope that the adoption of this language will lead states to adopt policies and eventually stop the use of these weapons altogether in populated areas. 1
Palestine regularly delivered statements throughout the consultations towards a Political Declaration, as well as raising concerns around explosive weapons in populated areas and expressing support for a Political Declaration in other multilateral forums. Early in the consultation process, Palestine stressed the imperative of a clear commitment to establish a clear presumption against the use of explosive weapons in populated areas that would meaningfully improve the protection of civilians from the grave harms caused by explosive weapons. 2 Palestine also opposed the use of the qualifier “can” throughout the text, as well as the use of “wide area effects” when it believed the substance applied to explosive weapons more generally. 3 It also called for data collection on reverberating effects and types of weapons used, and suggested disaggregation by disability status in addition to sex and age. 4 Palestine welcomed proposals to recognise the efforts of civil society organisations and UN entities and suggested the Declaration text should emphasise an inclusive approach to follow-up meeting. 5 It also supported strong provisions on humanitarian access and relief efforts. 6
Palestine reiterated many of these points as consultations progressed, strongly supporting the inclusion of reverberating effects and a presumption of non-use of explosive weapons in populated areas, as well as clear recognition of the link between the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and the grave humanitarian consequences. Regarding the final draft, it also welcomed references to accountability, facilitating humanitarian access, victim assistance, and the role of data collection and analysis to better understand humanitarian impacts. 7
Statements and positions
Palestine attended the first international implementation conference on the Political Declaration in Oslo, Norway in April 2024, and the second implementation conference in San Jose, Costa Rica in November 2025. At the Oslo conference, Palestine drew attention to its role in the negotiation of the Declaration and said that it has been a big promoter of it. It drew attention to the ongoing use and harm from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in Gaza beginning in October 2023. Palestine highlighted the widespread direct and indirect effects of explosive weapons use in Gaza, including the destruction of essential infrastructure, such as hospitals, homes, roads, telecommunications and education facilities, skyrocketing levels of hunger and malnutrition. It also drew attention to the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed, including children. It emphasised the direct and indirect impact on children. Palestine also spoke about the importance of unhindered humanitarian assistance, victim assistance, reconstruction, justice and accountability. It also called for the ban of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and made a link between the use of explosive weapons and arms exports. 8
Palestine has spoken on explosive weapons in populated areas in multilateral forums. During the UN General Assembly First Committee in 2025 Palestine emphasised that “the immediate and catastrophic humanitarian toll of conventional weapons specially when used in populated areas demands urgent attention” and that “explosive weapons in all its forms have been shown to cause the vast majority of civilian casualties”. 9 Noting that “their effects, and the systemic damage they inflict on innocent civilians and civilian infrastructure is catastrophic” Palestine went on to say that “genocide can be perpetrated by using conventional weapons when employed in unconventional manners”. Referencing Gaza in particular, Palestine spoke to the “devastating” consequences of “sustained use of explosives in densely populated areas”, citing extremely high casualty figures, widespread injury and trauma, the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure, and mass internal displacement. In their statement, Palestine also equated the sustained, indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas to “weapons of mass destruction. 10 At First Committee in 2023 and 2024, Palestine referenced the destruction and suffering caused by the use of explosive weapons in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in 2024 emphasising the use of the ‘most explosive weapons’ used in some of the ‘most densely populated areas in the world’. 11 In 2014, at the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, it spoke against the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, describing the devastating impacts of such weapons in Gaza. 12
At the 2024 Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, a working paper submitted by Palestine called attention to the use of and direct and indirect harm caused by explosive weapons in populated areas in Gaza, highlighting the targeting of densely populated areas and civilian objects, including infrastructure, places of worship and refugee camps, and emphasises the vast amounts of rubble, unexploded ordnance and the efforts, resources and time clearance would take. 13
At the Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in 2024, a working paper submitted by the Arab Group, of which Palestine is a member, drew attention to the Political Declaration, and the importance of strengthening civilian protection from the humanitarian consequences of explosive weapons in populated areas. 14 As a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Palestine aligned with World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ in May 2016, including the commitment “to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.”15
Implementation of the Political Declaration
In February 2024, INEW and EWM conducted a survey into endorser states' national efforts to disseminate and implement the Political Declaration; and in May 2025 EWM conducted a second survey. 16 In response, Palestine reported that the Disarmament Desk within the Department of Multilateral Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for overseeing efforts to implement the Declaration, and that the Declaration had been disseminated at the national level. It also reported that its efforts to collect and share data on explosive weapons use are currently focussed on such use in Palestinian territory, and that this remains highly difficult due to Israel’s war on Gaza and Israeli restrictions of movement in the West Bank. Palestine also noted that it works with national and international partners to facilitate assistance to victims, though this has been hindered by the denial of entry of humanitarian aid and medical personnel to the Gaza Strip. 17