BARCELONA – After a two-day presentation of evidence and testimonies, the International People’s Tribunal on Palestine found Israel, with support from United States of America, United Kingdom, France, and Germany, guilty of genocide, ecocide, and forced starvation of the Palestinian people.
The jurors of the tribunal deliver the guilty verdict. Photo by Carlo Manalansan
“The Palestinians feel abandoned by the world so this verdict will [boost] our morale,” said Musheir El-Farra, one of the Palestinian witnesses. He added that this tribunal would help more people understand the suffering Palestinian people have gone through.
Musheir El-Farra recounts his testimonies on the bombing of his community, detailing deaths of Palestinians particularly women and children. Photo by Carlo Manalansan
The jurors were legal experts and human rights advocates from different countries. Among them were Ceren Uysal, a people’s lawyer from Turkey and served as presiding juror; Abdessalam Kleiche from France, an expert in international relations and a historian; Bouchra Khalil, a human rights lawyer from Lebanon; David Minoves, a lawyer from Catalonia; Iratxe Urizar, a human rights lawyer from Basque Country; Joris Vercammen from The Netherlands, a retired cleric and archbishop of old catholic church; and Sagari Ramdas, a food sovereignty advocate and scientist from India.
War crimes
The prosecutors led by human rights lawyer Jan Fermon presented cases of genocide, ecocide, and forced starvation. These were supported by documentary materials, satellite images, audio visual evidence, and expert reports.
Under Article II of the Genocide Convention and Article 6 of the Rome Statute, genocide is defined as acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. These acts include killing members of the group, causing serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction, imposing measures intended to prevent births, and forcibly transferring populations especially children.
“People were torn into pieces in the streets; shells rained down on our tents without warning. My son, age 13, was shot in the head. My daughter, age 12, was struck by shrapnel from a guided bomb,” a witness said.
Throughout the proceedings, witnesses and experts presented evidence to show how women and children mainly suffered from the collapse of health and medical services, absence of reproductive care, and constant exposure to bombardment in Palestine. Major hospitals such as Al-Shifa, Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital, and Kamal Adwan were bombarded, leaving the wounded patients and civilians without treatment and forcing women to give birth in life-threatening conditions.
According to witnesses, aid supplies such as food, medicine, and water were deliberately blocked. Humanitarian workers were also targeted. Maria Zendrera, from the Global Sumud Flotilla, said, “we were intercepted at night before reaching Palestinian waters. Equipment were destroyed, communication cut, and volunteers assaulted. The aid did not reach Gaza. The blockade and starvation continued.”
Maria Zendrera shares her experience joining the Global Sumud Flotilla to deliver the much-needed aid to Gaza. She recalled how the Israeli military forces attacked their boats and harassed the members of the flotilla. Photo by Carlo Manalansan
The tribunal said that Israel’s intent to commit genocide against the Palestinian people was present. The scale and pattern of killing, forced displacement, and destruction were implemented through state policy. Beyond the physical and structural damages on ancestral homes, schools, farmlands, and community institutions, the Israeli government erased the Palestinian lineage, identity, and memory.
Ecocide and forced starvation
The ecological devastation in Gaza was not a by-product of Israeli war crimes. The tribunal found evidence on environmental destruction as “predictable, intentional, and strategically used to inflict conditions of life incompatible with survival”.
“One hundred thousand tons of explosives – equivalent to nine nuclear bombs – were dropped on Gaza. Every environmental sector was shattered,” a witness said.
A fisherman testified that the sea has been closed for over two years and 95% of the boats were totally destroyed. About 230 fishermen were killed, including 65 who were killed while trying to feed their families. According to the report, fishing is Gaza’s second most important economic sector sustaining the source of livelihood of around 60,000 people.
A published report revealed that since October 7, 2023, over 97% of trees including olive groves and citrus were destroyed. At least 98.5% of cropland was either damaged, inaccessible or both. Meanwhile, as of April 2025, about 83% of agricultural water wells and 85% of greenhouses were either partially damaged or totally destroyed.
Presentation of Dr. Diana Nazzal shows how the bombings in Gaza led to a sharp rise in the prices of essential commodities. She explained that the skyrocketing cost of goods has made it impossible for many people to afford and access basic necessities. This has contributed to starvation and death of Palestinians. Photo by Carlo Manalansan
The tribunal received testimonies that the use of toxic substances across the West Bank and on the periphery of Gaza contaminated the soil. Human Rights Watch reported through verified videos and witness accounts that Israeli military forces used white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza. The presence of white phosphorus can severely contaminate soil and water aquifers. This ecological devastation was meant to starve, displace, and destroy the Palestinian people. “An environment no longer suitable for human life,” as shared by one of the witnesses.
The methods of warfare resulting in widespread, long-term, and severe environmental damage are prohibited under Article 35(3) and Article 55 of Additional Protocol I of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Moreover, similar provisions are guaranteed under the Rome Statute. However, the presented and submitted evidence and testimonies proved that Gaza is experiencing environmental and ecological destruction on a scale unprecedented in contemporary wars and conflicts.
The deliberate bombings of farmlands, uprooting of olive trees, and restriction on fishing waters form a systemic strategy to strip Palestinians of their identity and means of survival.
Justice
On November 24, progressive groups and attendees of the tribunal delivered a copy of the full verdict to the Israel consulate in Barcelona. Azra Talat Sayeed, secretary-general of the International League of Peoples’ Struggles (ILPS), said that the Zionist entity and the imperialists of the north should be held accountable. They should be brought in front of the courts of the people and receive the sentences they deserve.
Solidarity groups welcomed the guilty verdict by the people’s tribunal. “This judgment is a significant milestone, amplifying the global call to uphold the right of the Palestinian people to resist and to hold accountable those responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians and the devastation of Gaza, rendered uninhabitable by the ecocidal project of Zionist aggression,” said Dr. Delen dela Paz, president of the Philippine-Palestine Friendship Association (PPFA).
Jan Fermon said that the people’s tribunal is part of the struggle for the right of the Palestinian to self-determination. “The liberation of Palestine is the work of the Palestinians. The work of the rest of us is solidarity. Nazism was brought down by the resistance of the people of the world. The US intervention in Vietnam was ended by the struggle of the Vietnamese people and the solidarity of the people of the world. Apartheid was brought down by the struggle of the South African people and the solidarity of the people of the world.”
Jan Fermon at the International People’s Tribunal on Palestine.
“We will fight. We will keep on fighting for the national liberation of occupied Palestine. We will keep on fighting for the occupied territories of the world, for the national liberation of the people across the world,” Azra said. (DAA)
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