Above photo: Gaza’s wounded are rushed to the hospital after Israel broke the temporary ceasefire with Hamas on 18 March. AFP.
Lawyers backing Global 195 project say they have gathered evidence from Gaza.
And are working with former police detectives.
Lawyers have launched a global coalition to pursue legal action around the world against Israelis and Israeli dual nationals accused of involvement in suspected war crimes in Gaza.
At a launch event in London on Tuesday, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) said the Global 195 initiative would seek to use domestic and international legal mechanisms to seek justice against Israeli soldiers and others “spanning the entire Israeli military and political chain of command”.
Speaking at a press conference, Tayab Ali, director of the ICJP, began his remarks by paying tribute to the hundreds of Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes after it broke the ceasefire with Hamas in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“Today’s events are a reminder of why initiatives like Global 195 are essential towards creating some form of accountability as this genocide continued unabated and supported by western governments and global corporations,” Ali said.
“The obstruction of international legal institutions in pursuing individuals responsible for war crimes in Palestine, coupled with the failure of national police forces to fulfil their obligations under humanitarian law and universal jurisdiction principles, has allowed impunity for Israeli suspected war criminals to persist.
“Under international law, states have a duty to investigate and prosecute war crimes, yet these obligations have been systematically neglected. The launch of Global 195 is a necessary legal intervention to remedy this failure.”
Ali added that the Global 195 initiative would target figures ranging “from senior policymakers to operational personnel, who are directly or indirectly responsible for violations of international law”.
Eyewitness Testimonies
He noted that the ICJP had collected 135 eyewitness testimonies from Gaza that corroborated open-source material taken across the besieged enclave.
The evidence, according to Ali, includes individuals who may have perpetrated war crimes that include indiscriminate bombardment of civilian areas, destruction of civilian infrastructure, attacks on designated “safe zones”, mass displacement policies and use of starvation against a civilian population.
The ICJP added that it had been working with former detectives from London’s Metropolitan Police to ensure that the evidence it collects meets a high standard and can be used in future cases.
The press conference included legal scholars from Bosnia, Canada, Malaysia, Norway and Turkey, who will be working with the ICJP in bringing cases against nationals suspected of committing war crimes in Gaza.
Shane Martinez, who heads the ICJP’s branch in Canada, said several Canadian lawyers were working to prosecute Canadian nationals and charities who are fundraising or fighting for the Israeli army.
This latest project is one of several that have been launched since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza in 2023.
Last month, MEE spoke to Dyab Abou Jahjah, president of the Hind Rajab Foundation, which has been pursuing legal cases against Israeli soldiers suspected of perpetrating war crimes.
Like the ICJP, Jahjah said their foundation had compiled over 8,000 pieces of evidence from social media related to alleged war crimes by Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
The Hind Rajab Foundation is named in honour of a six-year-old Palestinian girl whose tragic death at the hands of Israeli soldiers on 29 January 2024 has become symbolic of the widespread violations of international humanitarian law committed by Israeli forces.
An investigation in June revealed that Rajab and six of her family members were targeted with 335 Israeli army bullets as they attempted to flee northern Gaza in their car.