Comment from today's Spectator -'The images (//published by Hamas//) of Eli Sharabi, Or Levy, and Ohad Ben Ami – three hostages released by Hamas after 491 days in captivity – were haunting. Frail, skeletal, barely able to stand, they bore the unmistakable marks of prolonged deprivation. The sight evoked painful historical echoes: men whose suffering was etched into their hollowed faces and emaciated bodies, a vision chillingly reminiscent of Holocaust survivors. This was not incidental malnutrition. It was something far worse: starvation as a weapon, inflicted with intent.The contrast was stark. The Hamas terrorists escorting the hostages looked well-fed, as did the civilians who gathered to jeer at the released men and to scatter confetti. Some were positively fat. Hamas had the means to sustain these captives: it chose not to. Their condition was not an accident of war but a deliberate act of cruelty.The physical condition of the hostages told only part of the story. Their testimonies have begun to reveal the true extent of the suffering they endured. Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami described BRUTAL INTERROGATIONS in which they were subjected to RELENTLESS TORTURE: hanging upside down by their feet, strangled, gagged to the point of suffocation, and even branded with burning objects.They were kept barefoot throughout their captivity, left alone for long stretches in suffocating, cramped conditions deep within Hamas’ tunnels, unable to stand or move freely. They were deliberately starved, at times receiving nothing at all for days on end; when they were given food, it was often little more than rotten scraps of pitta bread, which they had to share among multiple prisoners.Even water was withheld for long periods. “We were treated like animals,” one of them said. Only in the final days before their release did their captors begin to offer slightly more sustenance –just enough to ensure they could remain upright long enough for the cameras. It was not just cruelty, but calculated and systematic dehumanisation, inflicted over 491 days of captivity'.From JusticeInfo.net -'In December 2019, the International Criminal Court (ICC) added starvation as a war crime to their statute. This is a crime recognized by the Geneva Conventions'Should not ICC prosecutor Karim Asad Ahmad Khan KC who specialises in international criminal law and international human rights law be summoning Hamas leaders to stand trial ?Does he not recognise how barbaric Hamas Palestinians are or is he intent on self-publicity with his demands that Netanyahu stand trial for war crimes ?The hypocrisy is sickening and I hope Forum readers recognise the fact and can distinguish between good and evil in this conflict.
John Hawkes ● 87d