Several lawyers who pushed for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have claimed that the Oct. 7 massacre was justified, The Jewish Chronicle reported Monday.
The outlet claims that Khaled al-Shouli and Abdelmajid Mrari “are key members” of a group of around 600 lawyers who filed evidence against Israel with the FCC during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Revealed: Lawyer pushing for Netanyahu arrest warrant said October 7 was legally justified https://t.co/W5kn2dEODN
— The Jewish Chronicle (@JewishChron) May 20, 2024
Mrari allegedly claimed that because Israel was already occupying Palestine it had no legal right to defend itself, the outlet reported. Since Oct. 7, Mrari has allegedly appeared on TV to defend Hamas as a legitimate “resistance movement” multiple times and has been a guest on the Lebanese Al Mayadeen channel, which supports Iran and the terrorist organization Hezbollah, The Jewish Chronicle reported.
Al-Shouli gave an interview on Oct. 8 in which he allegedly said that although Hamas may have committed “some violations” on Oct. 7, the operation was justified under international law, The Jewish Chronicle reported.
“We know that the Palestinian side has the intention to respect the rules of international law because the Palestinian side has already … become a member of the ICC,” Al-Shouli allegedly said during the interview, citing Israel’s refusal to join the ICC as evidence that the country does not respect for international law, the outlet observed. (RELATED: IDF Recovers Bodies Of Three Hostages Taken On October 7)
Both lawyers, who are based in France, have been involved in previous legal actions against Israel that were allegedly linked to Hamas, according to the outlet. Mrari reportedly filed a 2023 lawsuit at the ICC demanding that the court order Israel to end its blockade of Gaza. The lawsuit named senior Hamas official Ahmad Bahar as one of the plaintiffs, the outlet noted. In 2012, Bahar delivered a televised sermon imploring God to “kill the Jews and their supporters, the Americans and their supporters, without leaving a single one,” the outlet reported.
Al-Shouli filed a lawsuit to compel the European Union to remove its designation of Hamas as a terrorist group, according to The Jewish Chronicle. He succeeded in 2014, but the EU restored the designation in 2017, the outlet noted.
He also served as the head of two organizations — Comité de Bienfaisance et de Solidarité avec la Palestine and Association de Secours Palestiniens — that the United States government placed on its terror watch list in 2003 due to allegations they were fundraising for Hamas, the outlet reported. Both organizations denied the allegations, according to the outlet.
The lawyers’ efforts appear to be paying off, as ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan announced Monday that his organization was requesting arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over their handling of the war in Gaza. Khan is also seeking warrants against leaders of Hamas.
