Human rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Tawakkol Karman, has strongly condemned Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, describing them as “genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes” during a fact-finding mission organized by the Nobel Women’s Initiative (NWI).

Speaking in Amman after meetings with Palestinian refugees, activists, and former detainees, Karman said Palestinian women are enduring unspeakable violence yet continue to lead, organize, and resist. She accused Israel of engaging in apartheid, military aggression, and systematic dehumanization, and called for an immediate international arms embargo against Israel. “The world must stop arming this brutality,” she declared. Karman also urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to enforce arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for their alleged involvement in war crimes.

During the mission, Karman was joined by fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureates Jody Williams of the United States and Shirin Ebadi of Iran. The delegation visited the West Bank and Jordan, where they documented reports of settler violence, attacks on healthcare facilities, and mass displacement of Palestinian communities. In Jordan, they met with Palestinian women from Gaza via video link, who described conditions of starvation, ongoing bombings, and Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid.

Karman stressed the critical importance of including Palestinian women in all peace negotiations, criticizing their exclusion from international diplomatic efforts. Her comments add to growing international pressure on Western governments, particularly the United States and European Union, to halt military support to Israel. 

The Nobel Women’s Initiative announced that it will release a full report in May, compiling testimonies and legal findings from the mission.

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