A Palestinian girl searches for things to rescue at a garbage waste dump in Gaza City. AFP
The body, which groups international academics, rights advocates and legal experts, was set up in London in 2024 aiming to mobilise public opinion and pressure governments "to end the genocide" in Gaza.
Addressing a news conferences in Istanbul, its leader Richard Falk, a former UN rapporteur for Palestinian rights, said the tribunal called on governments to act before it was "too late".
The aim was "the empowerment of the UN General Assembly to organise a protective, armed intervention in Gaza to overcome the disruption of humanitarian aid and the continuing devastation and destruction of the people," said the 94-year-old American emeritus law professor.
Since October 2023, Gaza has been hit by a huge Israeli military onslaught that aid agencies say has caused a dire humanitarian crisis in the Palestinians territory.
"We urge governments around the world to take immediate steps to empower the veto-free UN General Assembly that ... so far has been frustrated in its attempts to end the Gaza genocide," the group said in a statement.
Israel has repeatedly denied there is any genocide in Gaza or that it blocks humanitarian aid. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that calls to end the war "harden" the Hamas resolve to fight the conflict.
Falk said the move could be established through policy instruments like the 1950 "United for peace" resolution or the more recent "Responsibility to protect" (R2P) doctrine.
The first lets the UN General Assembly act when the Security Council fails to maintain international peace and security. It was adopted at US urging in the early stages of the 1950-53 Korean war to sidestep a systematic Soviet Security Council veto.
The R2P was passed in 2005 aiming to prevent a repeat of the horrors of the 1994 Rwanda genocide and the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia.
"If we do not take action of a serious and drastic kind at this time, (it) will be too late to save the surviving people," said Falk who worked for decades on Palestinian rights and was repeatedly denounced for his harsh stance on Israel.
He said Gaza Tribunal hoped to have the issue added to the agenda of next month's UN General Assembly in New York.
Amnesty International on Monday accused Israel of enacting a "deliberate policy" of starvation in Gaza -- a charge Israel has repeatedly rejected.
Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 61,944 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
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