An Israeli delegation of over 100 family members of Israeli hostages will depart for the Netherlands on Wednesday, where the families' representatives will file a complaint against Hamas leaders at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
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In the meticulously detailed indictment spanning over 1,000 pages, evidence is presented of Hamas' acts of murder, kidnapping, sexual violence, torture, and additional crimes.
The complaint is the result of four months of work by the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum's legal department and includes testimonies from survivors of the massacre alongside testimonies from former Israeli hostages who have returned home.
The appeal to the ICC, on behalf of the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights isn't made by the State of Israel because it doesn't recognize the International Criminal Court and its jurisdiction.
Preparations for the lawsuit began in October with the establishment of the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, with one of its most significant moves being in December with the visit to the home country of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan.
The visit was impactful seeing that due to Israel's non-recognition of the ICC, the prosecutor can't freely arrive in the country in order to conduct investigations. The forum entered a "vacuum" in which it assists in the prosecutor's investigation as an association, thus enabling the court to file charges against private individuals.
One of the recent moves made by the ICC was to issue an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Israeli delegation aims for such a step in their case as well, hence numerous testimonies were collected also dealing with the terror organization's finances and plans in order to file charges against senior Hamas officials rather than its operatives.
"Our main goal is to have our voice heard worldwide," says Inbar Goldstein, sister of Nadav Goldstein who was murdered with his eldest daughter Yam in their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Her sister-in-law Chen Almog Goldstein and three other children, Agam, 18, Gal, 11, and Tal, 9, were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip and released in a deal after 51 days in captivity.
According to her, "The world needs to understand that Hamas isn't just Israel's problem, it's a branch of a terror organization much bigger than itself. This will become a global problem if we don't act now. We're not allowed to present our narrative fully and we're dealing with a lot of fake news, it's important that the world hears these testimonies," she added.
Dekel Lifshitz, grandson of Oded Lifshitz 83, who is still held in Gaza, and of Yocheved Lifshitz 85, who was released after 17 days in captivity, will also arrive at the ICC with a clear goal: "I'm going there to represent the hostages' families, to demand justice for what they did to our loved ones. I'm looking forward to justice being made."
"I am an optimist," he added, "we have a team of people who have been working on this issue for months. I trust the families' forum very much, and I believe that we're right, so there's no reason why this shouldn't succeed. I call on Israelis and Jews in the Netherlands to come and support us. What happened to us affects our society worldwide - whether in rising antisemitism or discrimination against Israelis."