(AA Photo)
Lawyers from Istanbul’s second Bar Association have traveled to The Hague to submit additional evidence concerning crimes against humanity committed by Israeli officials in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
The lawyers held a press briefing outside the VIP terminal at Istanbul Airport before departing for the Netherlands.
Speaking on behalf of the group during a press conference at the Istanbul Airport before departing for the Netherlands on Sept. 1, Istanbul second Bar Association President Yasin Şamlı said they were taking to The Hague the rights of women and children killed in Gaza and the demand for justice of Palestinians.
He accused Israel of continuing to commit genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression in Gaza despite cease-fire agreements, calls by the United Nations, decisions by the
International Criminal Court (ICC) and provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice.
“Gaza is not only about people being killed. Hospitals, schools, places of worship, refugee camps, aid queues, agricultural land and the future of an entire people are being targeted,” Şamlı said, stressing that impunity encourages perpetrators.
The evidence submitted to the ICC includes 119 chronological photographs documenting starving babies, civilians targeted while waiting for aid, women and children killed in attacks and families forcibly displaced from their homes.
The files also contain nine evidence books covering issues including starvation, attacks on women and children, prohibited weapons, the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system, journalists and medical workers, occupation, ethnic cleansing, torture and inhumane treatment.
In addition, the lawyers submitted notarized statements from a victim and a relative of a victim, as well as 25 video recordings documenting alleged crimes, their consequences and the suffering of victims.
