In September 2018, Shurat HaDin President Nitsana Darshan-Leitner traveled to the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) in The Hague with a group of Israeli farmers to submit a complaint, on their behalf ,which was signed by 50,000 supporters, seeking an investigation of Hamas for its most recent violations of international law.
As part of the mission, Shurat HaDin organized a public demonstration outside the ICC, which included large farming tractors such as those used to extinguish fires in Israeli fields ignited by Hamas operatives, as well as displays depicting the violence and destruction caused by Hamas to Israeli areas adjacent to the Gaza border. Since March 2018, Hamas has been engaged in ongoing violent demonstrations along the Gaza border, with operatives launching incendiary kites and balloons, shootings and throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers, and attempting to breach the border fence to carry out attacks within Israel. The complaint, submitted by Shurat HaDin to the ICC, names Hamas leaders, Khaled Mashal, Zaher Jabarin and Saleh Arouri as among those directing the illegal activities of Hamas. The illegal activities constitute war crimes under international law, including the murder of non-combatants, the destruction of civilian property for unlawful purposes, and the use of civilians as human shields.
