The Gaza People's Tribunal has concluded its final session in the Turkish city of Istanbul, presenting comprehensive evidence of Israel’s systematic and technologically advanced genocide against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The statement, delivered on Sunday, came after four days of public hearings where international jurists, experts, and witnesses presented evidence and testimonies on systematic Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
The tribunal was established in London in November 2024 in the tradition of the Russell Tribunal set up at the height of “US aggression in Vietnam.”
Professor Christine Chinkin, head of the jury for the Gaza Tribunal, formally read the tribunal’s conclusions, summarizing the findings and evidence gathered since the tribunal’s inception.
The jury condemned Israel’s ongoing genocide and enumerated the crimes committed against Palestinians. It stressed that the genocide did not begin in October 2023 and will not end with a ceasefire.
The destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, cultural and religious institutions, agricultural land, and ecosystems, as well as the use of hunger, denial of medical care, and forced displacement, are not collateral damage but deliberate instruments of collective punishment and genocide, the jury said.
These actions, the tribunal concluded, are not justified by military objectives.
Chinkin noted that the jury reviewed extensive evidence, including oral and written testimonies, research, and analytical papers. Personal accounts described the severe physical and psychological suffering of Palestinians, providing the basis for the tribunal’s findings.
The tribunal, she emphasized, has been a response to the ongoing lack of accountability and the commission of genocide by Israel in the blockaded Palestinian territory.
Chinkin stressed that genocide must be identified, documented, and confronted, as impunity allows violence to continue worldwide.
“Genocide in Gaza is the concern of all humanity,” she said. “When states are silent, civil society can and must speak out.”
The jury also held Western governments, particularly the United States and its allies, complicit in Israel’s genocide through the provision of weapons, intelligence, military support, and economic relations.
Inaction and silence in the face of genocide were described as moral failures and violations of international legal obligations.
Non-state actors were also implicated, including biased media, academic institutions, and technology companies whose infrastructure enables Israeli military assaults.
The tribunal criticized the failure of international institutions, including the UN, to prevent or punish atrocities effectively, while commending the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) special procedures and the work of special rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
The tribunal detailed crimes including starvation and famine through the deliberate denial of food, water, and the destruction of the food system.
The destruction of health care facilities and the targeting of medical personnel, long systematic under occupation, were highlighted as particularly egregious violations. Journalists documenting the genocide were systematically targeted, arrested, or killed.
The conclusions are grounded in international legal standards, including the Genocide Convention, human rights treaties, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the moral imperatives of justice. The jury also reaffirmed the Sarajevo Declaration adopted in May 2025.