Turkish legal experts have filed a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague urging the court to investigate Israel for war crimes in its onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip.
A delegation of The Istanbul Bar Association on Thursday submitted a file of evidence to the international court which included photos and videos from Turkiye’s Anadolu Agency (AA), reportedly proving Israel’s war crimes in Gaza.
“No conscience can remain silent about this…we are faced with an indescribable atrocity,” said Cüneyt Yüksel, chairperson of the Justice Commission of the Turkish Parliament, who formed part of the delegation, the Anadolu news agency reported.
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Since October 7, close to 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza.
Speaking outside the ICC’s court building, Yüksel said “Every place where civilians gathered together became the direct target of the attacks.”
“It is necessary to hold the responsible ones accountable”, Yüksel added, “even though Israel is not a party to the ICC, Israeli officials can be prosecuted due to Palestine being a party country.”
“Our complaint is related to ensuring the ICC carries out the necessary processes effectively and efficiently,” he said.
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“In this regard, Türkiye will continue its initiatives both among regional countries and in international organizations such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the UN, to take steps towards solving the problem,” he concluded, the agency reported.
Mustafa Deniz, one of the lawyers in the delegation who contributed to the preparation of the petition, said the evidence file prepared for the ICC included video recordings, photographs, witness statements, and victim statements.
Deniz said: “Our file includes video recordings, photographs, and victim statements. We obtained video and photo footage from the archives of the Anadolu. I believe our meeting is significant in clearly stating our support for the Palestinians and expressing their grievances”, the report added.
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Until a humanitarian truce entered into effect on Friday, November 24, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that over 14,854 Palestinians, including nearly 6,150 children, with another 36,000 wounded. 7,000 Palestinians are missing, including more than 4,700 women and children.
Gaza has been under a tight Israeli military siege since 2007, following a democratic election in occupied Palestine, the results of which were rejected by Tel Aviv and Washington.
(PC, Anadolu)
