Israeli farmers filed a war crimes complaint with the International Criminal Court against Hamas leaders for the terror group’s devastating arson kite campaign.
By: United with Israel Staff
A group of Israeli farmers from the areas surrounding the Gaza Strip on Monday submitted an official war crimes complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against the Hamas terror organization for war crimes it allegedly committed during its months-long airborne arson terrorism campaign.
Israeli farmers from the area surrounding the Gaza Strip have been subjected to a barrage of hundreds of burning kites sent from Gaza with the aim of setting fire to their fields. Dozens of blazes have destroyed produce worth millions of shekels. Arson attacks have been a nearly daily occurrence since the beginning of Hamas’s “March of Return” campaign in March.
Hundreds of arson kites outfitted with Molotov cocktails and fuel have been flown into Israel since the Hamas-led strategy was initiated, setting hundreds of fires and burning some 10,000 acres of land.
The Israeli farmers are appealing to the ICC to indict Hamas leaders Khaled Mashal, Saleh Arouri, and Zaher Jabarin for promoting “fire kite” terror.
According to the complaint, Mashal, Arouri and Jabarin “face command liability for the criminal actions of Hamas because they, along with other persons not within the jurisdiction of the court, exercise effective control and responsibility over them,” the Jerusalem Post reported.
These three Hamas leaders were also named because they have Jordanian citizenship and Jordan is a member of the ICC.
The IDF has documented and exposed Hamas’ responsibility for the relentless wave of airborne arson attacks on Israel’s south, debunking the widely accepted notion that it is a popular and spontaneous form of terrorism committed primarily by children.
‘The World Stood by in Silence’
The farmers, representing some 50,000 “concerned individuals” from Israel and around the world, with the help of Shurat Hadin-Israel Law Center, are suing Hamas for a series of offenses, including the burning of agricultural fields with burning kites, attacking Israel’s borders, recruiting children for combat purposes and using the civilian population as human shields.
“Israeli farmers have endured thousands of destructive arson attacks and rocket fire from Gaza, while the world stood by in silence,” said Shurat Hadin Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, according to the Post.
“Amazingly, Hamas which has orchestrated this campaign of terror…accuses Israel and the IDF of utilizing excessive force. We are demanding the ICC put an end to this hypocrisy and diligently investigate these Palestinian war crimes. The Rome Statute, which the Palestinians so cynically signed, cannot serve as a one-sided shield for Hamas’ murderous terrorism,” she added.
Shurat Hadin has been successful in curbing global terrorism by targeting its financial infrastructure, which is the grease that enables the machine of terrorism to work.