Gaza media building owner to approach ICC

The owner of a Gaza building housing international media, such as Al Jazeera and AP that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike stated that he will approach the International Criminal Court over the illegal bombing.

“The owner of this building, who is a Palestinian, has instructed his lawyers to file a war crime complaint with the International Criminal Court,” lawyer Gilles Devers said in a statement.

Devers told a News Agency outside the court, where around 10 pro-Palestinian protesters were gathered, that Israel could show “no military objective” for the attack.

“We hear a lot that this tower could have been destroyed because there was equipment or an armed resistance team. This is something that we totally deny after studying the case,” Devers said.

“International law is that you can only harm civilian property if it is used for military purposes, and that was not the case. So we say it today in front of this court and in this complaint.”

Devers said the complaint would be formally sent to the court by email later Friday.

Whereas Israel has claimed that Hamas military intelligence units were in the building.

Mehdi said at the time that an Israeli intelligence officer warned him he had one hour to ensure the building was evacuated before a missile slammed into the 13-storey building.

The ICC has no obligation to consider complaints filed to its prosecutor, who can decide independently what cases to submit to judges at the court.

It is also to be noticed that The ICC had already opened an investigation in March into possible war crimes in the Palestinian Territories since 2014.