A Dutch court on Tuesday heard a request to hear a case concerning Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip in 2014 in which two people, including Israel's prime minister candidate Benny Gantz, are charged.
The Dutch citizen of Palestinian origin, Ismail Ziadeh, called on the court to go ahead with a war crimes trial in an effort to seek justice for relatives killed in an Israeli air strike.
The initial hearing, aimed at determining whether the court will hear the case, began as Israelis headed to the polls to choose a new government that Gantz could lead.
Gantz, 60, was Israel's chief of staff at the time of the 2014 bombing campaign in which Ziadeh said six of his relatives were killed.
The second defendant is former air force commander Amir Eshel, 60.
"I demand justice," Ziadeh told judges at the Hague District Court, stressing that he would not get a fair judgment from an Israeli court because it "discriminates against Palestinians seeking accountability for war crimes."
Ziada's mother, three of his brothers, his brother-in-law, nephew and friend were killed in the strike on the Bureij refugee camp in Gaza on 20
July 2014.
"Because my client is a Palestinian, he does not guarantee a neutral and independent judge," Elisabeth Zigfeld said. "It is impossible to bring his case anywhere else."
During an emotionally charged argument, he offered to increase photographs of his dead relatives and told judges that "a lot depends on the results of this judicial process," saying it was a legal battle "between good and evil."
His lawyer said the case could be heard under Dutch law, which says he has "universal jurisdiction" in civil cases for citizens unable to obtain justice for war crimes elsewhere.