-Head of UK-based organization says Anadolu's photographs, publication ‘Evidence’ reveal Israeli crimes in Gaza with clarity
- ‘What worries me is that the International Criminal Court doesn't do what it's supposed to do,’ says ICJP Director Tayab Ali
LONDON
Anadolu’s photographs proving Israel's use of white phosphorus in Gaza and the book "Evidence," which includes these photographs as documents on Israel's war crimes, as well as the images of Anadolu photojournalist Mustafa Haruf being beaten by Israeli forces in the occupied East Jerusalem, will be submitted as evidence in war crimes investigations in the UK and independent court cases around the world.
The war crimes unit of the British police force (Scotland Yard), which cooperates with the International Criminal Court (ICC), examines evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza and transmits to the court any information it considers relevant to the ongoing ICC investigation.
The UK-based independent organization "International Centre for Justice for Palestinians (ICJP)" has established an official channel with the British police to collect and present evidence of war crimes to the police.
Anadolu’s London correspondent delivered printed and digital photographs of Israel's use of white phosphorus bombs in Gaza and photojournalist Haruf being beaten by Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem to ICJP Director Tayab Ali.
Ali, who examined the photographs proving Israel's use of white phosphorus in Gaza and the book titled "Evidence" at the ICJP office, evaluated the processes initiated to investigate Israel's war crimes with Anadolu.
Director of ICJP Tayab Ali (L) speaks during an exclusive interview on the recent book "The Evidence" released by AA in London
Ali said that in addition to Anadolu's photographs and images, they will include the publica
tion "Evidence," which reveals the crimes committed by Israel in Gaza with all its clarity and which is a book of visuals that are the main evidence in the investigation processes within the scope of the cooperation they carry out with the British police force.
Anadolu’s photographs to be included in various investigations
He stated that they have started an investigation into the war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza and that this is a process that requires a lot of work and judicial care.
Ali said that they presented the evidence they collected in this process to the British police organization through an official channel.
Ali continued: “We are conducting an investigation into war crimes in Gaza, perpetrated by Israel. And that is a very labored, forensic painstaking process. It is not just a case of taking documents and saying well, this is what this means and this is what that means, but building a picture from lots of little pieces of a jigsaw.”
He added: “If you are using phosphorus in a densely populated area, I would argue that it is almost impossible to do. So one of the significant characteristics about Gaza is that we've heard that Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on planet Earth. Here we have a very interesting photograph of white phosphorus being used what appears to be a white phosphorus cloud with parts of it raining down on Gaza. What looks to me like a very densely populated area. So you can potentially build a timeline from this. I am not saying that this is the timeline, but this is the way the investigation will work.”
“We will be able to see the source of white phosphorus the perpetrators use in these pictures. We will build a timeline. So this was on the 9th of October. And then we have evidence of white phosphorous used. I am not sure if these ammunitions result in this kind of explosion and this is something for a forensic expert to give me advice about as part of our investigation. And then you have very clear evidence that this has been used in urban areas. So you have that already,” he continued.
‘Part of jigsaw puzzle’
Ali said: “The evidence that you are supplying to me is crucial, very important. We will add that part of the jigsaw puzzle to see the full picture and we will use that in a number of ways. Either we will use it to assist Scotland Yard here in the United Kingdom, we will use it to assist the International Criminal Court or we will prepare independent case files to give to law enforcement agencies across the world so they can carry out investigations and potentially prosecute the individuals who are responsible for this action if it violates international law.”
Ali continued: “Part of the investigation that we are carrying out, which this will help with, is I think it's quite clear by now that Israel is carrying out an act where there is regardless of whether you think it's a war crime or not, there's a significant risk of a war crime. And so weapons manufacturers and suppliers and states that supply weapons to Israel have a very serious obligation to international law to ensure that when they supply weapons to Israel, they are not supplying weapons to a state that is likely to use those weapons in a criminal act.”
Director of International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) Tayab Ali
“And so part of my investigation will also go backward in this situation. And what I mean by that is that I'm very interested to know the source of these weapons, where they were made, who made them, when Israel received them, which companies provided them, which company directors were in control when these were supplied to Israel. That's really important because there's a criminal liability for those individuals and those companies,” he added.
‘Valuable piece of investigation’
When asked “Are you planning to include this evidence in Scotland Yard’s investigation?" he replied: “The answer to this question is ‘absolutely.’ This evidence is invaluable. It's very, very, very important evidence and we will analyze the material that you provide us with our experts. I mean, it's almost certain that it's going to … be part of our war crimes investigation. This material is phenomenal. It's amazing that you got it. It shows the importance of journalists doing their jobs independently and properly. And it's going to be a very valuable piece of our investigation.
Anadolu's book ❝The Evidence❞, photographs documenting Israeli war crimes to be used as evidence in UK investigations
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) January 5, 2024
➡️ Photos proving Israel's use of white phosphorus in Gaza
➡️ Documentary evidence of war crimes
➡️ Footage of Anadolu photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf being… pic.twitter.com/d0x2vRCBDC
Speaking about the International Criminal Court, Ali said: “What worries me is that the International Criminal Court doesn't do what it's supposed to do and what it did for Ukraine, with respect to alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza.”
He added: “What that means for me is that the International Criminal Court will become defunct quite frankly. If it doesn't do what it's supposed to do in a country like Israel and Palestine, when it's very clear that the United States, United Kingdom and Europe are allies of Israel and support Israel's action to some degree, then the ICC effectively becomes an imperialistic tool of these western states.
“It's not designed to be that. The ICC is designed to be an independent arbitrator that acts without fear or favor to hold war criminals accountable. In my view, if it fails to hold Israelis accountable for war crimes in that region for this current conflict, then it comes as an irrelevance.
'Evidence is very important’
Ali also examined Anadolu's book titled "Evidence," which clearly reveals the crimes committed by Israel in Gaza and includes visuals that are the main evidence.
“What's important about these photographs is that you have the journalist (name) who took the photograph and the date of them and that's really important evidence. This work (book) is really important because it will help me build a picture of the timeline of events. That will help me to put where certain events happened. It's very important,” he said.
Ali continued: “This is also one of the allegations that we are looking at, which is that not only did Israel target, what they said was military personnel, but they targeted the food infrastructure. So here you have the Al Nuseirat Bakery, which is bombed.”
Ali said that this photo frame is very important and shows that Israel is targeting objects and places that are important for civilian life, noting that this is a war crime.
*Writing by Zeynep Cetin in Istanbul
