Hamas files complaint to ICC against 'Israel's' siege on Gaza Strip
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French lawyer Gilles Dever is set to submit a complaint to the ICC against "Israel's" war crimes committed during the ongoing blockade imposed against Gaza.
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Exterior view of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands (AP)
Palestinian Resistance group Hamas filed a complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the Israeli occupation over its 17-year siege on the Gaza Strip, describing "Israel" as an "occupation entity" that has committed crimes against Palestinians.
In a statement, Huda Naim, the head of the human rights committee in the Palestinian Legislative Council in the Gaza Strip, indicated that "we are in a comprehensive battle with a criminal, colonial, settler occupation, which includes all arenas and fields, and the legal battle is one of the most important tools, because the occupation depends for its survival on military force and international support and cover."
Naim stated that French lawyer Gilles Devers is set to submit a complaint to the ICC filed by Hamas MPs on the Israeli occupation's war crimes committed during the ongoing blockade imposed on Gaza.
The Palestinian official explained that approaching the ICC "comes as part of the legal and parliamentary diplomatic efforts undertaken by the Legislative Council and its deputies, to criminalize the Israeli occupation for its grave violations against the Palestinian people, especially the crime of blockade, and its flagrant violations of laws and charters."
"There is a great need to exert every effort to strengthen the Palestinian narrative, reveal the fascist truth of the occupation, and expose its crimes to international public opinion," Naim stressed.
She said that in accordance with the Rome Statute, Palestinian deputies in Gaza filed a complaint to the ICC over the crime of blockade as a war crime and a crime against humanity and are demanding that the Israeli occupation be condemned and compensation be provided for the heavy losses inflicted due to the ongoing siege, as documented by international human rights organizations.
The official admitted that the Palestinian Legislative Council recognizes that the Israeli occupation applies pressure and blackmail on international judicial centers in order to avoid accountability and punishment, but "this does not absolve these international institutions from their responsibilities and the scope of their competencies."
"Even if we did not reach an actual condemnation of the occupation, filing lawsuits narrows the occupation's capabilities, contributes to exposing its narrative and limits its political and diplomatic activity against us," Naim said.
She stated that international law, resolutions, and reports support the Palestinian cause and rights, adding that this lawsuit is based on those conclusions.
Elsewhere, Naim went on to say that "the problem is a power imbalance in favor of the occupation and its allies."
On Monday, Moussa Abu Marzouk, a member of the Hamas political bureau and head of the movement's international relations office, said the complaint to the ICC constitutes a necessity to urge the international community to abide by its responsibilities and calls for more legal, human rights and political actions to end this unjust Israeli blockade.
Abu Marzouk noted that the complaints would do justice to the Palestinian people who are subjected to the worst types of siege, injustice, persecution, starvation, and deprivation of basic human rights, in flagrant violation of all international covenants.
The Hamas official pointed out that the aim of the unlawful Israeli siege on Gaza is to punish the Palestinian people for their free electoral choice, amid global international testimony on the transparency and integrity of the 2006 legislative elections.
Abu Marzouk said the usurping Israeli occupation did not only refuse to recognize the election results but immediately imposed a brutal and unjust siege that affected thousands of Palestinians over the past years, in racist, immoral, and unacceptable behavior, as per international organizations.
As a direct result of the ongoing Israeli occupation's siege against Gaza, more than two million Palestinians live in poverty in the Strip.
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