Lawyer lodges war crimes case against Hamas chief

AN ISRAELI lawyer best known for fighting for the rights of messianic Jews began a very different type of battle this week: he lodged a case against a senior Hamas strongman.

On Monday, Calev Myers filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court against Ismail Haniyeh, who led Hamas in Gaza until last month.

Mr Myers’ NGO, the Jerusalem Institute of Justice (JIJ), which also advocates for lone soldiers, opposes sex trafficking and gives legal support to Holocaust survivors, is urging the court to investigate Haniyeh “for his role in the commissioning of war crimes during the 2014 conflict with Israel”.

Mr Myers argues Hamas committed war crimes by firing rockets into civilian areas and using Gaza residents as “human shields”. He said he also felt it was “important to speak in the name of those who couldn’t raise their voice, because they were trapped under the dictatorial regime of Hamas, led by Ismail Haniyeh.

He chose Haniyeh in particular because of his “pivotal role in Hamas’s extremist ideology and its consistent violation of the human rights of the Gazan civilian population.”

Mr Myers feels it is “important to speak in the name of those who can’t raise their voice, because they are trapped under the dictatorial regime of the Hamas, led by Ismail Haniyeh.”

Haniyeh headed Hamas in Gaza for more than a decade until he resigned recently, apparently because he is set to become head of the terror group’s politburo.