The Jerusalem Institute of Justice has been actively engaged in legal proceedings before the International Criminal Court (ICC), particularly focusing on the actions of Hamas and other terrorist organizations. In response to the October 7, 2023, attacks, JIJ has intensified its efforts to hold these groups accountable, arguing that these acts meet the criteria for genocide under international law. The legal documents submitted by JIJ underscore the historical context of the Genocide Convention of 1948 and emphasize the legal definition of genocide as codified in the Rome Statute of the ICC.
In past years, JIJ has filed extensive legal complaints and memos to both national and international bodies, highlighting human rights violations in the region. Their goal is to bring perpetrators, who have enjoyed impunity, to justice. Notably, JIJ has filed lawsuits against Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh for war crimes committed against the Palestinian people in Gaza and against Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for crimes against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
In addition to these efforts, JIJ has submitted fifty-two Palestinian testimonies to the ICC in The Hague, revealing severe abuses committed by the Palestinian Authority against their own citizens. These testimonies detail brutal acts, including murder, kidnapping, imprisonment, torture, and rape of Palestinian and Israeli citizens residing in the West Bank. A landmark 1,800-page verdict by Judge Moshe Drori of the Jerusalem District Court has also held the Palestinian Authority accountable for these severe abuses.