Selman Aksunger
14 November 2023•Update: 14 November 2023
THE HAGUE, Netherlands
Lawyers for the Palestinian victims of Israeli attacks on Gaza filed a complaint Monday at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Dutch city of The Hague.
The victims’ representative before the ICC, Gilles Devers, and a four-person delegation that accompanied him submitted the complaint to the court’s prosecutor.
Addressing the press, Devers asserted that Israeli acts in Gaza constitute factors of the crime of genocide.
“The ICC is currently investigating the war crimes in a related investigation. The crime of genocide should also be included in this,” he said, adding that forcing over one million people to be displaced and cutting access to water, energy, food and medicine indicates that Israel wants total annihilation of the population in Gaza.
Also speaking to the press, Pierre Galand, a former Belgian senator, urged Belgium’s Foreign Ministry to recognize the State of Palestine as soon as possible.
“We are here for the protection of human rights and delivery of justice,” he said.
Abdelmajid Mrari, head of the Middle East and North Africa division at the Brussels-based Alliance for Freedom and Dignity, noted that the ICC has judicial authority over the crimes committed in Gaza.
Israel, as revealed by its political and military authorities, wants to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians, he said.
As the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip entered its 38th day, at least 11,180 Palestinians have been killed, including over 7,700 women and children, and more than 28,200 others have been injured, according to the latest figures from Palestinian authorities.
Thousands of buildings including hospitals, mosques and churches have also been damaged or destroyed in Israel's relentless air and ground attacks on the besieged enclave since last month.
The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is nearly 1,200, according to official figures.
