Geneva: Switzerland has announced the organization of an international conference on the occupied Palestinian territories, scheduled for March 7. The conference will see participation from numerous countries around the world and parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Nicolas Bideau, the spokesman for the Swiss Foreign Ministry, revealed in a statement that Switzerland has extended invitations to 196 countries that are party to the Geneva Conventions to join the conference. This meeting, which will take place in Geneva, is being organized at the request of the United Nations General Assembly and will include the participation of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention. Similar conferences were previously held in 1999, 2001, and 2014.

The United Nations General Assembly requested Switzerland to organize this conference last September amid ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip. The Fourth Geneva Convention, established in 1949 following World War II, provides humanitarian protection for civilians in regions experiencing armed conflict or occupation.