The last 20 living Israeli hostages were today released from Gaza as part of the first phase of a ceasefire deal brokered by the US administration. There remain 28 further hostages whose bodies are still expected to be returned to Israel.
These 48 hostages were some of the 251 people abducted into Gaza during Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which approximately 1,200 other people were also killed.
The hostages and their families were represented before the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) by a large legal team headed by Michelle Butler, in conjunction with the Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, Meitar Law Office and Sullivan and Cromwell LLP.
In this capacity, Michelle Butler acted as victims counsel for previously released hostages who travelled to the Hague during 2024 and bravely provided evidence as to their kidnap by Hamas and their experiences in captivity – including incidents of sexual violence – to the ICC’s prosecutors. This evidence underpinned the applications for warrants of arrest for crimes against humanity and war crimes which the ICC Prosecutor sought for three Hamas leaders: Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri.
Michelle Butler and Rosalind Comyn also prepared article 15 communications for ICC prosecutors to assist in building the evidential case against Hamas leaders. These dossiers included more than 1000 pages of witness testimonies and significant volumes of photographic and video evidence documenting the crimes committed by Hamas on 7 October 2023.
Further details can be found on the International Criminal Court website.