Avi Benlolo: The International Criminal Court must prosecute Hamas's war crimes

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Two haunting dates that have been forever etched into Jewish history converged this week. On Nov. 7, Israelis observed a day of mourning marking the one-month anniversary of the massacre of 1,400 people by Hamas terrorists. A sombre silence fell at precisely 11:00 a.m.

Two days later, on Nov. 9, Jewish communities commemorated the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass. During that ominous night, Nazis, particularly the Hitler Youth, attacked Jewish communities in Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia.

It’s worth noting that many of today’s pro-Palestinian antisemitic protesters in western cities are also organized by “Palestinian youth” movements.

Kristallnacht witnessed the horrifying incarceration of 30,000 Jewish men in concentration camps, the destruction of over 260 synagogues, the burning of 7,500 Jewish businesses and the brutal beating and cold-blooded murder of scores of Jews.

That night opened a dark gateway, granting Germans permission to transition from mere words to violent actions. With Hitler’s rise to power, Jewish life was severely constrained by a series of antisemitic laws that foreshadowed the violence on Nov. 9, 1938, and eventually led to the Holocaust.

The Holocaust unfolded because a pervasive antisemitic sentiment gripped the world. No international military or legal intervention thwarted Germany’s march towards the genocide of the Jews. It wasn’t until the end of the Second World War in 1945 that the world decided to prosecute the orchestrators of the Holocaust in Nuremberg, Germany.

Today, the world faces another test. Hamas’s genocidal intentions against Israel are glaringly evident. A Hamas leader in Lebanon openly declared on television the group’s desire to destroy the Jewish state and annihilate its people.

To prevent a repetition of history, the global community must promptly activate international legal systems to arrest Hamas’s leadership and halt their quest for genocide. This week, my foundation, the Abraham Global Peace Initiative, sent a letter to International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan, urging him to issue arrest warrants for key Hamas leaders.

Citing the Geneva Convention and the internationally accepted laws of armed conflict, our letter outlines key Hamas violations of international law.

Among them, three egregious transgressions demand immediate action from the ICC: the taking of hostages (Hamas captured an estimated 242 Israeli and foreign nationals); torture and rape (video footage exists of Hamas torturing and raping Israeli civilians on Oct. 7); and directly targeting civilians (evidence from training manuals discovered after the massacre indicates that Hamas intentionally targeted civilians).

Hamas has continued to target Israeli civilians through indiscriminate rockets fired at populated centres. Moreover, Hamas uses its own civilian population as “human shields,” which is strictly prohibited by international law. The organization conducts military operations in civilian areas, pilfers food, fuel and medicine from civilian stockpiles and aid agencies, and launches attacks against Israel and Israeli forces from playgrounds and hospitals.

Hamas shows little care or concern for the lives of civilians on either side, which constitutes war crimes. In stark contrast, Israel diligently strives to protect civilian lives. Since Oct. 7, the Israel Defence Forces has made over 20,000 phone calls, dropped 1.5-million leaflets and sent over four-million SMS messages warning civilians about upcoming military actions and urging them to temporarily move to safety zones.

Regrettably, the International Criminal Court has become a political tool of the Palestinians and their allies. Nevertheless, Hamas unequivocally violated every international military protocol and convention. If the court is to have any legitimacy at all, it will issue arrest warrants. If it were to disregard the well-documented truth about what Hamas did on Oct. 7 and in the month since, or if it were to adopt a neutral stance, the ICC would be failing humanity.

From Kristallnacht, we gleaned the ominous lesson that those who burn books will ultimately burn people. Modern events echo the Holocaust, when the world’s failure to act resulted in tragedy. Israel, learning from this history, is acting decisively by eliminating Hamas, mirroring what should have been done with the Nazis. An indictment of Hamas leaders by the ICC would underscore that Israel stands on the right side of justice.

National Post

Avi Benlolo is the founder and chairman of the Abraham Global Peace Initiative.