Lawyers from the Human Rights and Solidarity for Victims Association (Mazlum-Der), Women Lawyers’ Association and Jerusalem Council, as well as Free Thought and Education Rights Association, International Lawyers Association and Lawyers Association, gathered outside the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in the capital Ankara and Istanbul on Friday after lodging criminal complaints against Israel.

The groups said they were charging Israel for “openly committing genocide in Palestine for 80 years.”

The criminal complaint demands Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials be punished for “genocide,” “crimes against humanity,” “depriving individuals of their freedom,” “violation of the inviolability of domicile,” and “theft.”

“Israel has been engaging in a mass murder of children, women, elderly and even animals without exception in the past two weeks and the world has been silent in the face of this massacre,” Attorney Figen Şaştım, on behalf of the Women Lawyers’ Association, told reporters in Ankara.

She called on the international community to “put a stop to the slaughter and the great war” in Palestine, “irrespective of the regimes that rule you.”

Israel has caused over 3,000 civilian deaths and tens of thousands of injuries since Oct. 7 and deprived 2.3 million Gazans of basic human rights like food, water, medical aid and electricity, pointed out Attorney Mustafa Eminoğlu, speaking on behalf of the Jerusalem Council.

“Since Israel doesn’t face any sanctions, it increases its level of tyranny day-by-day,” he said.

As per Turkish Criminal Law, no matter who commits genocide or a crime against humanity, irrespective of the location, Turkish courts have the authority to try the perpetrators, which the Justice Minister has the power to utilize, Eminoğlu explained.

“We are fulfilling our duty here today before history and humanity by charging Israel of openly committing genocide,” he said.

Attorney Osman Yurt, head of Mazlum-Der, informed all Israeli government officials, including the prime minister and the president, who are complicit in the crime, are included in the complaint.

In Istanbul, Mazlum-Der’s general director Kaya Kartal condemned what is unfolding in Gaza as “a crime against humanity and plain genocide taking place in front of the entire world.”

Israel has committed a war crime by directly targeting civilians in the bombing of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, Kartal said, adding, “By claiming they’re fighting ‘human animals,’ the Israeli Defense Minister has declared they don’t see the people of Gaza as human beings.”

“We are charging Israel for it. The Zionist and occupying Israeli regime must be tried on every ground and criminals must be punished,” he said.