Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), an international network of 850 groups dedicated to combating antisemitism, called on Saturday for global legal action against any nation that supports or shelters Hamas’s leadership.
“On the basis of international humanitarian law, crimes against humanity and international jurisdiction, we are calling for immediate legal action, not only against Hamas and its leaders but against all those countries which have assisted it and provide sanctuary to its leaders,” CAM CEO Sacha Roytman said.
Roytman suggested the state supporters of Hamas also bear responsibility for the crimes Hamas has, and continues to, commit.
“We should remain focused on the crimes of October 7, whereas we have to also draw attention and attach culpability to all those involved in the countless crimes of the murder, rape, maiming, torture and starvation of Israelis and other nationals being held in Gaza over the last 16 months since then,” Roytman said.
CAM’s statement follows the release of Israeli civilian hostages Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami after the three spent nearly 500 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza.
Reminiscent of the Nazis
The hostages were in serious condition after their release and a preliminary medical examination noted that they appeared to have been starved and lost about 30% of their overall body weight.
“What Hamas is doing is reminiscent of the Nazis, who also used murder, rape, torture and starvation against innocent Jewish victims during the Holocaust,” said Roytman.
“International law as we know it was formulated in the post-Holocaust era to ensure that these types of crimes against humanity would never happen again,” the CAM CEO continued. “However, they are happening before our very eyes, and the international community and so-called humanitarian NGOs appear to be reacting with a collective sigh of disinterest.”
Former hostages Ben Ami and Sharabi, residents of Kibbutz Be’eri, were kidnapped from their community during the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Levy was at the Nova music festival in Re’im when he was taken hostage.
During the attacks, some 1,200 people in Israel were killed. Over 250 others were taken hostage.
