Palestinian lawyers to attend Cairo conference on Israeli war crimes

A delegation of 15 Palestinian lawyers will join in a conference in Cairo next week to discuss atrocities during Israel's recent offensive on the Gaza Strip, one of the lawyers said Saturday.

Hussein Shabana told Ma'an that the lawyers would attend the conference on Sept. 11 and 12 and would return to Palestine with recommendations and reports to present to the Palestinian Authority.

A delegation of lawyers will then meet with Palestinian lawyers in the Gaza Strip on Sept. 13 to document Israeli war crimes during its assault, Shabana said.

Additionally, on the sidelines of the Cairo conference, the lawyers will meet with legal experts from Egypt and Latin American to discuss the PA's potential bid to join the International Criminal Court.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions have signed a document urging PLO leadership to join the ICC, "but so far there hasn't been any official move," Shabana said.

"The Palestinian leadership must join the ICC in order to file complaints against the leaders of Israel," Shaban said.

International human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have condemned various Israeli actions during its seven-week assault on Gaza as violations of the laws of war. Over 2,100 Palestinians were killed in the offensive, most of them civilians.