Ex-diplomats urge France, UK to enforce law in Palestinian territories
102 former ambassadors cite Gaza situation and West Bank violence in appeal.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

La France et le Royaume-Uni, qui ont reconnu l’État de Palestine en 2025, doivent désormais traduire cette reconnaissance en mesures concrètes, écrivent ces diplomates. © Crédit photo : JACK GUEZ / AFP
Photograph: Sud Ouest (embedded from source)
What this story says
- 102 former French and British ambassadors have appealed to their governments to enforce international law in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
- The diplomats accuse the Israeli government of undermining the possibility of a Palestinian state.
- They highlight the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and violence in the West Bank.
- The appeal calls for France and the UK to suspend trade agreements and military cooperation with Israel.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 3 of the 9 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
70/100
Hype
20/100
9 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
A group of 102 former French and British ambassadors has urged their governments to enforce international law in Israel and the Palestinian territories. In a joint appeal, the diplomats stated that France and the United Kingdom, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, must act together.
The signatories accuse the Israeli government of compromising the prospect of a Palestinian state. They also denounced the humanitarian situation in Gaza, describing the two million Palestinians there as "parked on 30% of a devastated territory, hungry, deprived of medicine and housing." The appeal also highlights violence and destruction in the West Bank, with some signatories describing it as "ethnic cleansing" with the complicity of Israeli forces.
The appeal condemns the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023 but states that "nothing justifies the systematic policy of destruction of Gaza and its population." It calls for France and the UK to enforce decisions from the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, recommending the suspension of trade agreements and bilateral military cooperation with Israel.
The diplomats also called on the Palestinians to ensure a democratic state and for the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank, including the holding of free and fair elections. The report does not mention the disarmament of Hamas.
Coverage comparison
What the coverage left out
None of the left- or centre-rated reports mentioned the specific number of Palestinians in Gaza, stating only "two million" or "two million Palestinians" in the context of their precarious situation. The full reports from Franceinfo.fr and Sud Ouest did not mention the specific number of signatories, referring to "102" or "plus de 100" (more than 100) former ambassadors. No right-rated outlet ran this story.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 22 Aug 2026, 11:45, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Un drapeau palestinien sur une maison détruite par les autorités israéliennes à Jénine, en Cisjordanie, le 25 février 2026. (ZAIN JAAFAR / AFP)
franceinfo.fr — embedded from source
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
4 rated outlets
- Four left-rated reports carried the story. Franceinfo.fr and Sud Ouest, which published full reports, led on the appeal by former diplomats calling for France and the UK to enforce international law. Both reports highlighted the diplomats' accusations that the Israeli government is compromising the prospect of a Palestinian state and their denunciation of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and violence in the West Bank. Franceinfo.fr quoted the phrase "Nettoyage ethnique" (ethnic cleansing) used by the signatories to describe events in the West Bank. Sud Ouest also quoted this phrase and the description of Gaza's population as "parqués sur 30 % d’un territoire dévasté, affamés, privés de médicaments et de logement" (parked on 30% of a devastated territory, hungry, deprived of medicine and housing). Both full reports noted that the appeal does not mention the disarmament of Hamas. Digests from Liberation, Le Monde, and Al-Monitor also focused on the call for France and the UK to act and enforce international law, mentioning the accusations against Israel regarding the Palestinian state and the situations in Gaza and the West Bank.
Centre
2 rated outlets
- One centre-rated report, Sud Ouest, published a full report. It led on the appeal by 102 former French and British ambassadors for their governments to enforce international law in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The report detailed the diplomats' accusations that the Israeli government is compromising the prospect of a Palestinian state and their denunciation of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and violence in the West Bank. It quoted the phrase "La Palestine s’efface sous nos yeux" (Palestine is disappearing before our eyes) and noted the signatories' description of Gaza's population and the West Bank situation as "nettoyage ethnique" (ethnic cleansing). The report also stated that the appeal does not mention the disarmament of Hamas.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Ex-diplomats urge France, UK to enforce law in Palestinian territories?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 67% are rated left, 33% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 9. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Ex-diplomats urge France, UK to enforce law in Palestinian territories left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Ex-diplomats urge France, UK to enforce law in Palestinian territories biased?
- Ex-diplomats urge France, UK to enforce law in Palestinian territories is one event reported by 9 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Ex-diplomats urge France, UK to enforce law in Palestinian territories?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Ex-diplomats urge France, UK to enforce law in Palestinian territories?
- 9 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Who has called for action in the Palestinian territories?
- A group of 102 former French and British ambassadors has called on their governments to enforce international law in Israel and the Palestinian territories. They accuse the Israeli government of compromising the prospect of a Palestinian state and highlight the humanitarian situation in Gaza and violence in the West Bank.
- What specific actions are the former diplomats requesting?
- The diplomats are calling for France and the UK to enforce decisions from the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. They recommend suspending trade agreements and bilateral military cooperation with Israel. They also urge the Palestinians to ensure a democratic state and for the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank.
- What did the appeal say about Hamas?
- The appeal condemns the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023 but states that "nothing justifies the systematic policy of destruction of Gaza and its population." The reports noted that the appeal does not mention the disarmament of Hamas.
Read it at the source
9 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
4- Palestinian Territories: Former Diplomats Call on Paris and London to Enforce the Law (opens Liberation in a new tab)
Liberation — is Liberation biased? Our profile of this outlet
- "Palestine Disappears Before Our Eyes": Ex-Diplomats Call on Paris and London to Enforce the Law in Gaza and the West Bank (opens franceinfo.fr in a new tab)
franceinfo.fr — is franceinfo.fr biased? Our profile of this outlet
- "France and the United Kingdom Must Act Together to Enforce International Law in Palestine": the Appeal of Former French and British Ambassadors (opens Le Monde in a new tab)
- Former envoys urge joint French, UK action on Palestinian territories (opens Al-Monitor in a new tab)
Al-Monitor — is Al-Monitor biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
2- Former envoys urge joint French, UK action on Palestinian territories (opens Radio France Internationale in a new tab)
Radio France Internationale — is Radio France Internationale biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Israel: Former Diplomats Call on Paris and London to Enforce Law in Palestinian Territories (opens Sud Ouest in a new tab)
Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
3- 102 signatories: Former envoys urge joint French, UK action on Palestinian territories (opens rtl.lu in a new tab)
- Former Diplomats Appeal to Paris and London: "Palestine disappearing..." (opens Noticias ao Minuto in a new tab)
Noticias ao Minuto — is Noticias ao Minuto biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Former British and French diplomats urge action over Israel’s ‘erasure’ of Palestine (opens online-listing.com in a new tab)
online-listing.com — is online-listing.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
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