UPDATE - The Evidence: Foreign leaders attending Antalya Diplomacy Forum review Anadolu’s publication on Gaza conflict

ADDS MORE DETAILS, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Tugba Altun

ANTALYA, Türkiye (AA) – Foreign leaders and ministers attending the Antalya Diplomacy Forum 2024 in Türkiye examined The Evidence, a book published by Anadolu that documents Israel's war on the Gaza Strip.

The publication by the Turkish news agency puts together visual evidence of Israeli actions in the besieged Palestinian enclave since Oct. 7, 2023, including the use of white phosphorus.

The book was also submitted to the International Court of Justice, where South Africa filed a case accusing Israel of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

Among those reviewing the publication included Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar, King Mswati III of Eswatini, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Muhammad Hasan Mahmud, Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zeljka Cvijanovic, and Somalia's acting Foreign and International Cooperation Minister Ali Omar Balad.

Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu, Sudan's Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Al-Sadiq Ali, Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto also took out time during the event to look through the photobook.

Others who examined the hardback included Undersecretary for Political Affairs at the Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry Sheikh Abdulla Ahmed Bin Hamad al-Khalifa, Uganda’s Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo, Secretary-General of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Lazar Comanescu, Diplomatic Adviser to the President of UAE Anwar Gargash, and Venezuela’s Deputy Foreign Minister Coromoto Godoy Calderon.

TRNC President Tatar said that despite living in the digital age, the possibility of some photos and documents being lost persists, pointing out that The Evidence can serve both as proof in court of law, and as a means to bring the extent of the atrocity in Gaza to wider audiences.

Israel has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since the October Hamas attacks, which killed about 1,200 people. The military campaign has also led to mass displacement, destruction and conditions for a famine.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan and Esra Tekin in Istanbul