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Palestinian victims' voice at ICC, French lawyer denounces Israeli 'genocide' in Gaza

PARIS

A French lawyer considered a voice of Palestinian victims at the International Criminal Court has denounced the ongoing Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip.

Gilles Devers told Anadolu that he filed a complaint at the tribunal based in The Hague against Israel's air strikes in Gaza, accusing the country of "genocide."

He said war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide were being handled separately at the ICC, adding that the sufferings of the Palestinians were different than those of Rohingya Muslims.

According to him, the situation in Gaza is also worse than what happened in Srebrenica in 1995, recalling that 8,600 people were killed there during what was considered a genocide.

"We have a high amount of evidence, thus we request an arrest warrant against (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu," Devers said. "We found shocking images of Israeli soldiers acting out of revenge, that could be considered inhumane."

The lawyer explained that threatening the existence of a community, cutting access to basic needs including electricity, water, food, and health services, and bombing hospitals and civilians, and forcing people into displacement, amount to genocide.

Israel has continued its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 incursion by Hamas, killing more than 11,000 Palestinians besides damaging and destroying thousands of civilian structures and imposing a total siege, resulting in the shortage of basic necessities such as food, medicines, and fuel.

Anadolu photos as evidence

The lawyer also commented on Anadolu's photos showing Israel committed using phosphorus bombs on Gaza.

"These are perfect documents," he said. "Technically, we already know that the white smoke is phosphorus stain."

Devers also commented on Anadolu's photos showing phosphorus bombs stacked in front of an Israeli tank.

"This is the photo of a war crime, and those are the criminals," he said, adding that international law bans aerial use of chemical weapons, hence Israel tried showing it was using those via tanks.

Devers stressed that he would be happy to include the photos captured by the Turkish news agency in the file as evidence.

He said Israel is using chemical weapons to move Palestinians out of the region, and it cannot be considered as an isolated event.

The ICC is not an "ideal" justice body but it is the only international one for the Palestinian people, whose rights have been violated, he said.

Devers recalled that the US and Israel did everything they could to prevent Palestine from being represented at the ICC, despite it signing the Rome Statute in 2015.

According to him, the ICC is the only international justice body recognizing Palestine as a state.

"Our job is neither politics nor religion, but to defend rights," Devers said, and hailed that hundreds of lawyers joined the initiative from over 20 countries, including Türkiye.

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