A civil society panel convened in response to the ongoing crisis in Gaza released its final statement on Sunday in Istanbul. The report outlined nine categories of alleged crimes, warned that genocide continues, and urged global action to hold perpetrators legally and morally accountable.
The panel, known as the Gaza Tribunal, was chaired by Richard Falk, a former United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories and professor emeritus at Princeton University in New Jersey. Over four days of public hearings, international jurists, experts, and witnesses presented evidence and testimonies regarding what they described as Israel’s continued violations against the Palestinian people.
Christine Chinkin, a law professor at the University of Michigan and chair of the tribunal’s Jury of Conscience, stated that “Israel is perpetrating an ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, within—and enabled by—a broader settler-colonial apartheid regime rooted in the supremacist ideology of Zionism.”
She emphasized that while the jury does not act with the authority of states, it believes that when legal systems fail, conscience must step in. “We believe that genocide must be named and documented, and that impunity feeds continuing violence throughout the globe,” she said. Chinkin added that “genocide in Gaza is the concern of all humanity,” and that “when states are silent, civil society can and must speak out.”
The jury condemned several acts attributed to Israel, including the destruction of infrastructure, denial of humanitarian aid, and the use of excessive force. It also accused Western governments, particularly the United States, of complicity in Israel’s actions through diplomatic support, military aid, and economic relations.
The panel called for accountability through international legal mechanisms, such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICJ is currently reviewing a genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel, while the ICC has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
In addition, the jury urged UN member states to invoke the United for Peace resolution, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1950. This measure allows the UNGA to take action when a permanent Security Council member uses a veto to block UN-mandated functions. The resolution has been implemented over a dozen times, enabling actions such as rejecting Israel’s UN credentials or mandating an armed protection force for Gaza, if approved by two-thirds of UN members.
The tribunal also recommended a global effort to resist and dismantle oppressive structures through coordinated political, legal, economic, academic, cultural, technological, and social actions. It called for a “comprehensive global confrontation” of Israel across multiple domains, including politics, media, education, and the arts.
Chinkin concluded with a strong message: “Silence is not neutral; silence is complicity.” She added, “Neutrality is surrender to evil.”
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