International Criminal Court Prosecutor Defines the Hamas Attack of Israel on October 7 as “Serious International Crimes”
The prosecutor, Karim Khan, of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has called the attacks against Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023 “some of the most serious international crimes that shock the conscience of humanity, crimes which the ICC was established to address.”
“There can be no justification for the holding of any hostages, and in particular the egregious breach of fundamental principles of humanity through the taking and continued holding of children. Hostages can not be treated as human shields or bargaining chips.
In addition, Kahn also spoke about the Israeli response to the attacks. “Notwithstanding any ongoing violations of international humanitarian law by Hamas and other armed groups in the Gaza strip, the manner in which Israel responds to these attacks is subject to clear legal parameters.”
Source: Jerusalem Post (December 4, 2023) with note of contributions by Associated Press and Reuters.
***
Gaza Killings by Hamas Show Much Sexual Violence and Mutilation
“There were many testimonies: the scale of the mutilation described is unimaginable.” A Jerusalem woman architect whose Israeli reserve army duty involved identifying the bodies of women from the Hamas massacre declared that she and her colleagues saw enormous violation done after death of victims including “genital mutilation – bodies whose genitals and breasts were shot multiple times. Some bodies were decapitated. Some were burned beyond recognition. And some… were booby trapped.”
Another volunteer gathering the bodies described “the body of a woman that had nails and other foreign objects inserted in her genitals. There was another whose body had been brutalized so completely that she had been rendered unidentifiable. Another was mutilated so badly that the rescue service could not identify if the victim was male or female.”
Source: Dayan, Linda (6 December 2023). Rape as a weapon of war: Jewish women tell UN to confront Hamas sexual violence. Haaretz English Edition.