Israeli farmers to file war crimes complaint against Hamas

A group of Israeli farmers is filing a war crimes complaint at the International Criminal Court in The Hague against Hamas over the torching of thousands of acres of farmland in recent months.

The farmers want prosecutors to investigate leaders of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, for allegedly issuing “orders” to Palestinians to breach the territory’s frontier with Israel.

Hamas has staged weekly mass protests since March in which Israeli troops have killed 125 people. Protesters have launched incendiary devices into Israel, sparking fires that have burned crops and killed livestock.

Ofer Lieberman, one of the farmers, told Israeli Army Radio: “What they are trying to do is to burn us, not just our fields. It’s a war crime.”

The farmers are expected to file their complaint Monday.