International legal team lodges new annex at ICC over Israel’s targeting of civilians in Gaza

An international legal team representing the Palestinian people has submitted an emergency memorandum to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), explaining that Israeli occupation forces deliberately bombarded and killed unarmed civilians in Gaza as part of a tactical plan to force them to flee towards Egypt ahead of the opening of the Rafah crossing.

According to the submission, described as emergency memorandum No. 34, the filing argues that the bombardment took place about 48 hours before the planned opening of the Rafah crossing, with the alleged objective of emptying Gaza of its Palestinian population.

The legal team is headed by Kuwaiti lawyer Dr Faisal Khazal and includes Tunisian lawyers Shawqi Al-Tabib, assistant secretary-general of the Arab Lawyers Union, and Akram Al-Zaribi, the team’s spokesperson, as well as Palestinian lawyer Suhail Ashour, the former head of the Palestinian Bar Association. The memorandum forms part of ongoing legal follow-up related to the Gaza Strip complaint.

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A senior official at the ICC prosecutor’s office, who requested anonymity for professional reasons, said the team submitted the “34th legal annex” on behalf of the Palestinian Bar Association, acting as the legal representative of the Palestinian people.

The annex is presented as a follow-up to the original complaint filed with the ICC prosecutor’s office on 6th December 2023, and follows 33 earlier legal annexes focused specifically on developments in Gaza.

The official said the latest submission was intended to urgently alert the court to two serious and interconnected developments that occurred on the eve of 1st February 2026, developments the memorandum said carry grave legal implications.

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