Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Karim Khan, visited Israel over the weekend. During the visit, the Prosecutor, who was hosted by the Families Headquarters, toured Be'eri, Kfar Aza, and the Re’im party site. The Prosecutor also visited the Families Headquarters and met with family representatives.
The families of the hostages demanded from Khan: "We expect you to work to bring Hamas terrorists to justice for crimes against humanity and genocide."
The purpose of the visit was to directly expose the Prosecutor to the horrors committed by Hamas on October 7th and urge him to conduct an uncompromising investigation to prosecute the murderers, their collaborators, and their assistants. During his visit to the Gaza envelope and the Re’im party site, the Prosecutor was exposed to the horrors, and after meeting with a representative of ZAKA (Disaster Victim Identification), he watched videos and photos documenting the massacre.
“In Kibbutz Be’eri, Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and at the site of the Nova Music Festival in Re’im, I witnessed scenes of deliberate cruelty. The attacks against innocent Israeli civilians on October 7th represent some of the most serious international crimes, crimes that shock the conscience of humanity, crimes that the ICC was established to address. Meeting with the families of the victims of these attacks, my message was clear: we stand ready to work with them as part of our ongoing work to ensure accountability for those responsible," Khan stated following the visit.
“I called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages taken by Hamas and other terrorist organizations. There can be no justification for holding hostages, especially not the blatant violation of the fundamental principles of humanity by taking children and continuing to hold them. Hostages cannot be treated as human shields or bargaining chips," he added.
During the visit to Israel, the Families Headquarters emphasized that the expectation is to bring Hamas to justice for the atrocities they committed and that there is a real obligation to immediately open an investigation against those who took part in the cruelty and violence we saw on Black Saturday.
On behalf of the Families Headquarters, it was stated: "We thank Mr. Karim Khan for the extraordinary decision to come and stand by the families in the aftermath of the horrors perpetrated by Hamas in Israel on October 7th and the continued detention of hostages. We expect him to work to bring Hamas terrorists to justice for crimes against humanity and genocide. This is part of a broader international legal battle led by the Families Headquarters under the leadership of attorney Yuval Sasson together with Dr. Shelly Aviv-Yeini and attorneys Raz Nazari and Dan Eldad to prosecute Hamas criminals and their collaborators."