Hostage families sue ICC prosecutor, allege court has become 'branch of Hamas'

The lawsuit accuses ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan of turning the court into "a branch office of the terrorist organization," Hamas.

The families of three hostages currently being held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas - Avinatan Or, Eitan Mor, and Omri Miran, filed a lawsuit for NIS 20 million against International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, NGO Shurat Hadin, which is representing the families, announced on Wednesday.

The lawsuit accuses Khan of turning the court into "a branch office of the terrorist organization," Hamas.

It demands that Khan be investigated for acting against Israel under ulterior motives - namely to sideline allegedly sexual abuse allegations against him.

"The defendant not only slandered the State of Israel, not only presented false representations to the plaintiffs, but also provided services to terrorist organizations and assisted them," reads the lawsuit.

It adds that when he finally did request arrest warrants for the three chief Hamas leaders - Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, all of whom were killed by Israel over the past two years - he coupled them with warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. Additionally, the lawsuit notes that it took him eight months to issue the warrants.

It further notes that warrants were not issued against leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who too held hostages captive, as well as against other Hamas leaders.

Shurat HaDin chief: The ICC has become a branch of Hamas

"The blood libels the defendant wove against the State of Israel and its leaders, by creating a false moral equivalence between the State of Israel — the victim — and the terrorists who hold the hostages and abuse them daily, granted legitimacy to the terrorists to continue extorting Israel while holding and abusing the hostages," reads the lawsuit.

Shurat HaDin founder and president Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said, "The International Criminal Court has become a branch of Hamas. Through his direct actions, he gave an enormous tailwind to the terrorist murderers."