According to Article 51 of the UN Charter, Israel as an occupying regime does not have the right to defend itself, Hala Ahed said speaking at the fourth day of a summit held in Turkey's Istanbul. The 5-day summit is being held at the initiative of the Qatari Al Jazeera media outlet with the topic of media and war.
About 100 journalists and experts from different media outlets in the region are present in this specialized meeting. Journalists from Mehr New Agency are also participating in the dialogue-oriented meetings.
The sessions are in the form of workshops with the presence of legal and media experts, and on the first and second days, Ahed discussed how to pursue war crimes legally in international forums.
International laws have three subsets of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law, she said.
She considered news coverage and documentation to be one of the main elements related to media and international humanitarian law and emphasized that regarding the issue of international laws and their correct implementation, the role of countries and governments is very important and essential.
When governments do not fulfill their duties in the field of punishing wrongdoers, international humanitarian laws should be used to prevent the commission of atrocities and massacres, she further stressed.
Rejecting the Zionists' right to self-defense, she emphasized that according to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, Israel cannot have the right to self-defense because this right is for a country that has two basic conditions. "One of these conditions is that the attack is carried out by a country, which does not apply to the Al-Aqsa Storm operation. Also, considering that Israel is an occupying regime, it does not have the right to defend itself and must first evacuate the areas it has occupied."
The other condition is that the attacked party should inform the UN Security Council about the aggression and obtain permission from this international organization to defend itself, according to her.
Ahed further described the types of crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of genocide (mass killing).
The Zionist settlements in the occupied lands, especially the areas around the Gaza Strip, are considered a kind of war crime because the Zionist regime has displaced and expelled the authentic residents of an area and settled its supported people there, she said.
Elsewhere in her remarks, Ahed emphasized that documenting the war crimes of the Zionist regime is very important in preventing the Zionist leaders from escaping from punishment.
Referring to the importance of media and war correspondents in documenting war crimes, she added that the International Criminal Court has allowed war reporters to keep their identities hidden and appear in court as independent observers instead of witnesses. "This shows the importance of the work of war reporters for the Hague War Crime Tribunal."
Documenting war crimes is very important and necessary in this case because it can prove that war crimes are organized and methodical, she concluded.
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