Legal coalition to pursue Israelis accused of war crimes around the world
Lawyers backing Global 195 project say they have gathered evidence from Gaza and are working with former police detectives
Gaza’s wounded are rushed to the hospital after Israel broke the temporary ceasefire with Hamas on 18 March (AFP)
Published date: 18 March 2025
Lawyers
have launched a global coalition to pursue legal action around the
world against Israelis and Israeli dual nationals accused of involvement
in suspected war crimes in Gaza.
At a launch event in London
on Tuesday, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP)
said the Global 195 initiative would seek to use domestic and
international legal mechanisms to seek justice against Israeli soldiers
and others “spanning the entire Israeli military and political chain of
command”.
Speaking at a press conference, Tayab Ali, director of the ICJP,
began his remarks by paying tribute to the hundreds of Palestinians
killed in Israeli air strikes after it broke the ceasefire with Hamas in
the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“Today’s events are a reminder of why initiatives like Global 195 are
essential towards creating some form of accountability as this genocide
continued unabated and supported by western governments and global
corporations,” Ali said.
“The obstruction of international legal institutions in pursuing
individuals responsible for war crimes in Palestine, coupled with the
failure of national police forces to fulfil their obligations under
humanitarian law and universal jurisdiction principles, has allowed
impunity for Israeli suspected war criminals to persist.
“Under international law, states have a duty to investigate and
prosecute war crimes, yet these obligations have been systematically
neglected. The launch of Global 195 is a necessary legal intervention to
remedy this failure.”
Ali added that the Global 195 initiative would target figures ranging
“from senior policymakers to operational personnel, who are directly or
indirectly responsible for violations of international law”.
Eyewitness testimonies
He noted that the ICJP had collected 135 eyewitness testimonies from
Gaza that corroborated open-source material taken across the besieged
enclave.
The evidence, according to Ali, includes individuals who may have
perpetrated war crimes that include indiscriminate bombardment of
civilian areas, destruction of civilian infrastructure, attacks on
designated “safe zones”, mass displacement policies and use of
starvation against a civilian population.
The ICJP added that it had been working with former detectives from
London’s Metropolitan Police to ensure that the evidence it collects
meets a high standard and can be used in future cases.
The press conference included legal scholars from Bosnia, Canada, Malaysia, Norway and Turkey, who will be working with the ICJP in bringing cases against nationals suspected of committing war crimes in Gaza.
![]()
The Hind Rajab Foundation: Pursuing Israeli soldiers worldwide for Gaza war crimes
Read More »
Shane Martinez, who heads the ICJP’s branch in Canada, said several
Canadian lawyers were working to prosecute Canadian nationals and
charities who are fundraising or fighting for the Israeli army.
This latest project is one of several that have been launched since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza in 2023.
Last month, MEE spoke to Dyab Abou Jahjah, president of the Hind Rajab Foundation, which has been pursuing legal cases against Israeli soldiers suspected of perpetrating war crimes.
Like the ICJP, Jahjah said their foundation had compiled over 8,000
pieces of evidence from social media related to alleged war crimes by
Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
The Hind Rajab Foundation is named in honour of a six-year-old
Palestinian girl whose tragic death at the hands of Israeli soldiers on
29 January 2024 has become symbolic of the widespread violations of
international humanitarian law committed by Israeli forces.
An investigation in
June revealed that Rajab and six of her family members were targeted
with 335 Israeli army bullets as they attempted to flee northern Gaza in
their car.