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Chan Junis in the southern Gaza Strip, on July 31, 2026. <\/p>\n
Bashar Taleb \/ AFP <\/p>\n
Jaser Abu Mousa was no minor figure at the office of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Gaza. He was the mission\u2019s most senior local staff member. He managed Switzerland\u2019s programmes in the enclave, provided political analysis and was responsible for the security of the office and Swiss diplomats visiting Gaza.\n<\/p>\n
This content was published on <\/p>\n
September 3, 2026 – 09:00\n<\/p>\n
\n Malika Nedir, Julie Liardet, Pierrik Jordan, RTS <\/p>\n
Swiss public broadcaster RTS has seen correspondence showing just how much he was respected and taken seriously by the SDC office in Ramallah in the West Bank, to which he reported.<\/p>\n
But Jaser Abu Mousa\u2019s life was turned upside down following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. His wife and two of his children were killed in an Israeli air strike.<\/p>\n
Evacuated to the United Arab Emirates<\/p>\n
In December 2023, Jaser Abu Mousa and his two remaining children were evacuated to the United Arab Emirates with Switzerland\u2019s help. In Abu Dhabi, his son Abdullah underwent several operations, while his daughter Sham was treated for burns.<\/p>\n
The family was housed in a refugee camp. For months, Jaser Abu Mousa appealed to Switzerland via the SDC for help while waiting for a humanitarian visa.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I spoke to my office in Ramallah, I asked for a visa for Switzerland. We were living in a camp, but it was a kind of captivity. That was no life at all,\u201d says Jaser Abu Mousa in the RTS programme Tout un monde. \u201cI applied for several jobs in the United Arab Emirates, but as soon as they found out I didn\u2019t have a residence permit, I was turned down,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really did exhaust every possible option to get out of there, but Switzerland prevented me from doing so. I received a brutal message from the head of personnel at the SDC in Ramallah, which said: \u2018There is no visa for you\u2019,\u201d he says. In some messages, Jaser Abu Mousa\u2019s superiors advised him to apply for a visa in Germany, where his sister lives.<\/p>\n
Jaser Abu Mousa later submitted a second application for a humanitarian visa from the US, where he was able to travel temporarily thanks to a scholarship.<\/p>\n
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Humanitarian aid\n <\/p>\n
The Board of Peace must address the basic needs of the Palestinian population <\/p>\n
This content was published on <\/p>\n
Mar 2, 2026 <\/p>\n
Civilian safety and access to basic infrastructure must dominate the agenda of all Gaza peace talks, argues a Palestinian writer. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Read more: The Board of Peace must address the basic needs of the Palestinian population \u2018Very clear\u2019 criteria<\/p>\n The Swiss foreign ministry, to which the SDC reports, believes it has fulfilled its obligations. \u201cThis situation is tragic, and the Swiss foreign ministry bears responsibility as an employer. It must protect its staff, which is what we have done,\u201d emphasises Swiss foreign ministry spokesperson Nicolas Bideau, while acknowledging \u201cthat we take a restrictive approach when admitting people to Switzerland\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe brought him out of the Gaza Strip on December 7, 2023. We then took him to Abu Dhabi. And there we provided him with an annual salary. We have fulfilled our responsibilities,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question of whether or not he will be granted a humanitarian visa falls within the remit of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), which has decided not to grant him a humanitarian visa,\u201d Bideau says, adding: \u201cA humanitarian visa is granted when a person\u2019s physical integrity or life is under a concrete threat.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe SEM makes decisions and asks us questions: Is your former employee\u2019s physical integrity or life under threat today? No, he is not under threat, as we have just rescued him from a situation in which he was under threat. These criteria are therefore very clear. They cannot be circumvented by a political or other decision,\u201d emphasises Bideau.<\/p>\n The Swiss foreign ministry and the SEM pass the buck<\/p>\n In response to an enquiry, the SEM confirms in writing \u201cthat a humanitarian visa is not usually granted if the person is already in a third country and is therefore no longer at risk\u201d. According to SEM figures, Switzerland has issued 171 humanitarian visas to people of Palestinian origin since 2022.<\/p>\n In the case of a former Swiss foreign ministry employee, however, the SEM says that it merely has an advisory role: \u201cThe decision on an application for a humanitarian visa lies within the remit of the Swiss foreign ministry\u2019s Swiss representation abroad, after the SEM has been consulted.\u201d<\/p>\n According to several sources within the Swiss foreign ministry familiar with the matter, Ignazio Cassis\u2019s department could have intervened on behalf of Jaser Abu Mousa. His case was reportedly dealt with at the highest levels of the department. Had the Swiss foreign ministry wished to grant a humanitarian visa, it could have done so and should have done so, according to the same sources. Bideau, for his part, emphasises that Cassis did not intervene in the matter.<\/p>\n Unease within the Swiss foreign ministry<\/p>\n The handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is causing unease within the Swiss foreign ministry. Several internal letters and former ambassadors have accused Ignazio Cassis of not taking a firm enough stance against Israeli crimes in Gaza.<\/p>\n According to one of RTS\u2019s sources, the handling of Jaser Abu Mousa\u2019s case stems from this perspective on the conflict. \u201cFor Ignazio Cassis, there is no Palestinian civil society in Gaza, so every Palestinian from Gaza is close to Hamas,\u201d the source claims.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is wrong,\u201d counters Bideau. \u201cThe proof of this is the tens of millions of francs we are spending on humanitarian aid for the victims of the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n Another source speaks of a \u201czero-risk policy\u201d in handling the case, \u201ceven though he was not on any official blacklist\u201d.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Swiss diplomacy\n <\/p>\n Why Switzerland doesn\u2019t recognise Palestine as a state\u00a0 <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Sep 24, 2025 <\/p>\n Around 150 countries \u2013 or three-quarters of UN member states \u2013 recognise Palestinian statehood. Switzerland, for various reasons, is not one of them. <\/p>\n
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