Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — A leading legal group has targeted Hamas chief Khaled Masha’al for alleged war crimes.

The Israel Law Center has submitted a request to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for an investigation of Masha’al.

The independent center, often supported by the Israeli government, asserted that Masha’al ordered the execution of civilians during the war with Israel in July and August 2014.

“[They] were civilians who were taking no active part in the hostilities,” the complaint to ICC read.

The request by the Israeli center, filed on Sept. 2, pointed out that Masha’al was a Jordanian citizen. Unlike Israel, Jordan has been a member of ICC since 2002.

Nearly 50 Palestinians, many of them protesting the Islamic regime, were said to have been executed by Hamas during the 50-day war. The complaint said that Hamas executed 18 people on Aug. 22 and 20 others on July 28.

“They were unarmed protestors, not combatants,” the center, referring to the July 28 killings, said.

Hamas has acknowledged the executions, saying the victims were accused of working for Israeli intelligence. But the complaint to ICC said many of those executed had been held in Hamas prisons for up to two years before
they were taken out and shot during the war.

“Shurat Hadin [Hebrew name for the center] will not allow Hamas’ summary executions of its own people, while hypocritically advocating Palestinian membership in the ICC,” center director Nitzsana Darshan-Leitner said.

  International Criminal Court, Israel Law Center, Israel Law Center seeks war crimes probe of Hamas leader Masha’al, Khaled Masha’al