Gaza tribunal to probe Israeli genocide, war crimes opens in Sarajevo
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Discussions will cover genocide, apartheid, displacement, and international law failures, culminating in the Sarajevo Declaration.
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A Gaza Tribunal booklet at the Gaza Tribunal's launch in London, United Kingdom, November 4, 2024 (Gaza Tribunal)
The Gaza Tribunal, an independent people's tribunal formed as a humanitarian and moral initiative to investigate "Israel's" continuing war crimes in Gaza, will convene its inaugural public session on Monday in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Chaired by Richard Falk, ex-UN rapporteur for Palestine, the Gaza Tribunal will meet in Sarajevo between May 26 and 29.
🚨 MAY 26-29, SARAJEVO 🚨
— Gaza Tribunal (@gazatribunal) May 24, 2025
The Gaza Tribunal convenes its first Public Assembly in Sarajevo, bringing together leading legal experts, human rights advocates, and witnesses for four days of groundbreaking proceedings.
⚖️ What to expect:
Expert testimonies on international law… pic.twitter.com/Clo07lBMNG
The discussions will address multiple critical issues, such as settler-colonial genocide, the legal frameworks of genocide, the realities of apartheid, the forced displacement of populations, the safeguarding of civilian lives, the systemic failures within the UN, and the increasing criminalization of protest movements.
Program, organizers, and the Sarajevo Declaration
The program will feature panel discussions examining Political Realism and Contemporary Geopolitics, as well as the Political Economy of Genocide, while also including a dedicated session that draws parallels between historical and current events under the title From Srebrenica to Gaza.
The Gaza Tribunal is organized with backing from the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum, an umbrella organization comprising 66 member bodies that include 50 national youth organizations alongside 16 minority Muslim youth organizations from various countries.
The closing day will see the public presentation of the Sarajevo Declaration, a document incorporating input from all participating members of the tribunal.
Istanbul to hold final proceedings
The Gaza Tribunal was established in London in November 2024 through a collaborative effort of academics, intellectuals, human rights defenders, and civil society representatives, formed in direct response to their assessment of what they describe as the total failure of the organized international community to implement international law in Gaza.
Live broadcast
After convening in Sarajevo, the tribunal will conduct its final hearings in Istanbul, Türkiye, in October 2025, where a Jury of Conscience will unveil preliminary findings and rulings based on witness testimonies and accounts from Palestinians impacted by the conflict. All the Sarajevo sessions will be broadcast online.
The tribunal seeks to function with full transparency, free from the influence of international power dynamics and operational constraints, while ensuring its proceedings conclude within a clearly defined and practical timeframe.
Supplementary platform
The Gaza Tribunal serves as a supplementary platform, not replacing formal institutions like the ICC or ICJ, by producing rigorous legal documentation and amplifying international attention to the crisis through its independent proceedings.
This initiative comes as "Israel" expands its war on Gaza, launching a ground invasion, all while depriving the people of Gaza of essential humanitarian aid
Palestinians in Gaza enduring 'cruelest phase' of war
On Friday, UN chief Antonio Guterres emphasized that Palestinians in Gaza are "enduring what may be the cruelest phase of this cruel conflict" as "Israel" ramps up its war on the enclave.
"For nearly 80 days, Israel blocked the entry of life-saving international aid," he said in a statement, adding, "The entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine.
"The Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction."
Aid began trickling into the Gaza Strip this week for the first time in more than two months, amid condemnation of the Israeli blockade that sparked severe shortages of food and medicine.
But Guterres pointed out that of almost 400 trucks cleared for entry into Gaza through the Karem Abu Salem crossing, supplies from only 115 have been able to be collected.
"The needs are massive -- and the obstacles are staggering," he stressed. "Strict quotas are being imposed on the goods we distribute -- along with unnecessary delay procedures."
