Opinion: Why the Gaza Tribunal is still needed after Trump’s ceasefire

The Gaza Tribunal, a people’s tribunal, was formed a year ago in response to the failure of the established world order of sovereign states and international institutions to stop what experts and ordinary people increasingly recognised as genocide in Gaza.

The Gaza Tribunal will hold its final session from 23-26 October 2025 at Istanbul University.

Our initiative was inspired by an earlier civil society effort during the Vietnam War, when leading public intellectuals Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre established the Russell Tribunal, which held hearings in 1966 and 1967.

Its mission was to report on the international crimes of the United States and to legitimise growing anti-war sentiment in the West.

The underlying premise was that when the state system fails to uphold international law or to ensure accountability for grave crimes that affect global peace and security, people possess a residual authority and responsibility to act.

Read more: Why the Gaza Tribunal is still needed after Trump’s ceasefire Opinion by Richard Falk