WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)– Twenty six American citizens have filed a war crimes complaint with the United States Attorney General, asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute senior Hamas officials for their perpetration of war crimes during the past summer’s Gaza War. The Americans allege that Palestinian terrorists intentionally launched rockets at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport throughout the summer which resulted in several near-missile strikes at a time that American carriers and citizens were at the airport.
American law provides prison sentences of up to 20 years for any person who “unlawfully and intentionally” uses any substance or weapon “to perform” “act of violence” at an international airport when the victim is a national of the United States. The 26 Americans includes passengers who were at the Ben Gurion Airport at the time of the terrorist rocket attacks and had to flee into bomb shelters as well as passengers traveling on Delta Air Lines Flight 468 from New York that was diverted to Paris as a result of the dangerous situation.
The complaint calls for the indictment of Hamas commanders, leader ,and rocket crew members Khaled Mashaal, Hamdan Awad Sami Abu Zuhri, Hudheifa Samir Abdullah Allachlot, Ahmad Ghandour, Raed Saad, Marwan Abd al-Karim Issa, and Salah Amar Dalul.
The Shurat HaDin complaint was organized by attorney Robert Tolchin of New York and Shurat HaDin chairwoman Nitsana Darshan-Leitner in Tel-Aviv.
During the Gaza War, the terrorist Hamas rockets targeting Israel’s international airport resulted in warning sirens to be repeatedly sounded at the airport causing American and non-American passengers to seek shelter in secured areas of the compound. More than 4,800 rockets and 1,700 mortars were fired from Gaza, with a large percentage targeting Israel’s center region which includes the Ben Gurion Airport. While the majority of the Palestinian rockets were intercepted by the Israel Defense Forces’ Iron Dome protection system, 225 rockets struck Israeli civilian centers. Six Israeli civilians were killed by the Palestinian rocket fire.
On July 22nd, following a Palestinian rocket strike on the nearby city of Yehud, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ban on American flagged airlines from flying to or from the Tel-Aviv. The rocket destroyed a civilian home. Delta Flight 468, with 273 passengers on board was diverted while en route to Tel Aviv. American Airlines was forced to remove passengers from a flight waiting to depart from Tel-Aviv because of the FAA directive. Numerous European and Canadian carriers also cancelled their flights as a result of the rocket attacks targeting the airport.
In the wake of the FAA ban, the Hamas terrorist group declared its attack on Ben Gurion Airport and the resulting disruption of US air flights to be “a great victory.” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri released a statement proclaiming, “The success of Hamas in closing Israeli airspace is a great victory for the resistance, and is the crown of Israel’s failure.”
The Shurat HaDin Law Center has filed several previous complaints in the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Palestinian Authority and Hamas officials over their involvement in war crimes against Israeli and Palestinian individuals.
This DOJ complaint is the first time that Shurat HaDin is filing war crime allegations against Hamas in jurisdictions of a nation allied with Israel.
Last week, the Palestinian Authority announced that it will file its first war crimes complaint against Israel on April 1st. Human rights group Amnesty International released a report last week accusing Hamas of perpetrating war crimes by launching rockets and mortars at Israel during the Gaza War.
According to Nissan Darshan-Leitner: “It cannot be denied that Hamas and other Palestinian groups including Fatah intentionally targeted Ben Gurion airport this summer with the goal of killing passengers and destroying international carriers.” Hamas openly boasted of its success when the FAA prohibited American flights to Ben Gurion during the terrorist rocket attacks. The United States Department of Justice has the clear jurisdiction to indict these Hamas leaders and the Attorney General needs to let the Palestinian terrorists understand that they will no longer be getting a free pass for the war crimes they committed. We will continue to file complaints against Palestinian leaders both in the ICC and in many other national jurisdictions for the war crimes they have perpetrated against civilians.”
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Preceding provided by Shurat HaDin.
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