Statement from the Union of Turkish Bar Associations on the tent camp attack in Rafah: 'An attack on humanity'

The Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB), condemning the Israeli army's attack on a camp for displaced civilians in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, stated, "International law punishing perpetrators after children and innocent civilians have already lost their lives will not ensure that justice is served."

In the text published under the title "Israel's Attack on the Tent City in Rafah, Where Innocent People Including Children Were Staying, Is an Attack on Humanity," it was emphasized that if Israel is not stopped, it will go down in world history as a great shame.

The full text of the TBB's statement is as follows:

"Israel's attack on the tent city housing people it had previously displaced, adding a new one to the war crimes it has committed against the Palestinian people, constitutes an attack on humanity. While the fact remains that at least 45 innocent people, including children and women, lost their lives in the burning and collapsing tents and that there are many injured, the failure of international institutions and organizations to stop this atrocity will go down in world history as a great shame.

In our previous application to the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding the crimes committed by Israel, aimed at punishing war crimes and genocide, we focused on the concept of 'intent to commit genocide' and presented the acts and statements that serve as evidence for the existence of this intent.

It has been seen once again today what a great deficiency it was that the legal assessment presented by the ICC Prosecutor while requesting arrest warrants for some Israeli officials, including the Head of State, did not include the elements of the 'crime of genocide.'