Hamas leaders are victims…according to former ICC prosecutor
Former International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo was interviewed last week on Zeteo, the media organization founded by Mehdi Hasan.
It should be noted that Hasan, a British-American broadcaster and political commentator, left MSNBC in January after he accused Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza. A former presenter for Al Jazeera, he issued an apology after using antisemitic tropes on CNN in 2021.
During the interview, Ocampo discussed the possible ICC arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Gallant, calling it a “game-changer.”
Ocampo noted that Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, and Mohamed Deif were also indicted by the ICC, but he described the terrorist chieftains as “victims.”
“It is a game changer, as you say,” Ocampo said in the video posted by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). I think we have a chance now to replace war with justice. War produces revenge. Wars produce more terrorism. The Hamas leader indicated [Haniyeh, Sinwar, and Deif] – they were victims also.”
In a horrifying example of equating the Palestinian Hamas Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis to the IDF war on Hamas, Ocampo compared arrest warrants for Hamas terrorists to the murder of Jews in their homes.
“They [Hamas leaders] were removed [from their homes], their families were attacked,” Ocampo continued. “So, attacking people produces revenge, justice does not. That is why this is an incredible opportunity to transform the dynamics.”
Ocampo has made this equivalence before. In an interview with “El Pais” two weeks after the Oct. 7 attack, he described Hamas’s actions as genocide but also described Israel’s blockade of Gaza in the same terms.
“What happened on October 7 was genocide because Hamas’s intention is to destroy the Israeli people,” Ocampo said. “Furthermore, it is a crime against humanity, a massive attack on the civilian population. And the taking of hostages is a war crime. Those are all things that Hamas did. Israel’s response is also criminal; regardless of who bombed the hospital [al-Ahli al Arab, last Tuesday], there are two facts that are crimes: one is the complete blockade of Gaza. It depends on the intentions, but there is an objective element of genocide when you create conditions that will produce the destruction of a group. To not allow water, food and fuel through is to turn all of Gaza into an extermination camp. And forced displacement is a crime against humanity, just like bombing the civilian population.”
In December, he accused Hamas of genocide but also claimed that the IDF was committing genocide.
“You have Hamas committing war crimes… crimes against humanity, the crime committed in Israel on October 7… and probably genocide, because Hamas has [the] intention to destroy Israelis as a group,” Ocampo told Al Jazeera‘s “UpFront.” “Then, Israel’s reaction also includes many crimes,” he continued. “It’s complicated to define the war crimes, because each bombing has to be evaluated. But there is something very clear: The siege of Gaza itself… is a form of genocide.
“Then, Israel’s reaction also includes many crimes,” he continued. “It’s complicated to define the war crimes, because each bombing has to be evaluated. But there is something very clear: The siege of Gaza itself… is a form of genocide.”
In an interview with Al Jazeera in December, Ocampo revealed the disturbing illogic behind the ICC’s accusations against Israel.
“Article 2C of the Genocide Convention defines that you don’t need to kill people to commit genocide,” the Argentinian jurist added. “The rules say inflicting conditions to destroy the group, that itself is a genocide. So creating the siege itself is a genocide, and that is very clear.”
“Many officers of the Israeli government are also expressing genocidal intentions,” Moreno Ocampo noted. “That’s why it’s easy to say and there’s reasonable basis to believe Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, just the siege. Each bombing, each of the killings, should be properly investigated but… the siege itself is already genocide.”
It should be noted that the recent iCC charges against the Israeli leaders does not include accusations of intent to genocide. This is probably due to lack of evidence but also may be because Israel has focused on eliminating Hamas and not the Palestinians.
But neither did the charges against the Hamas leaders despite ample evidence that they have openly expressed, in word and action, their intent to murder all the Jews. Also notably absent from the ICC indictment against Hamas is its use of human shields.
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