Families of October 7 hostages to file complaint against Hamas at International Criminal Court - report
The legal move at the ICC was reportedly planned for months and aims to put international pressure on leaders of the Palestinian terrorist organization
Families of hostages abducted on October 7 are planning to file on Wednesday a formal complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, against leaders of the terrorist organization Hamas, according to Ynet.
Representing the abducted was the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, along with Israeli and international lawyers. According to the report, the charges laid out in the complaint will be of kidnappings, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, torture and more.
The complaint at the ICC was aimed at reaching an arrest warrant for Hamas leaders which would thereby add international pressure for the hostages' release from captivity in Gaza, per the Ynet report, which added that the move had been prepared for four months by the legal department of the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum.
As part of the initiative, a group of around 100 representatives of the families will fly to the Netherlands this Wednesday, along with the Israeli and international legal team, and thousands of Jewish people from the region are expected to show their support.
Following the submission of the complainant, some of the hostages released from captivity are expected to travel to The Hague and testify against Hamas, alongside family members of those still held in Gaza.
The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum stepped up their efforts on the international stage, seeking support from world leaders. They most recently met with Spain's prime minister, the Spanish Felipe VI, the Portuguese president, the U.S. Secretary of State while he was in Israel, and the French president who hosted a tribute ceremony honoring the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack.