An inquiry against members of the Islamist organization Hamas has been opened in Germany in connection with murders and the abduction of hostages. This was announced on Tuesday, October 10, by a representative for the federal public prosecutor.
Hamas carried out an offensive over the weekend that saw its members rushing into Israeli cities. This attack resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people and the kidnapping of dozens more.
Hamas, an organization that advocates for the destruction of Israel, claims that their strike was justifiable because of the situation of Gaza, which has been subjected to a siege for the last 16 years, as well as the bloodiest Israeli crackdown in years in the occupied West Bank.
German Prosecutors Launch Probe
According to Reuters, prosecutors in Germany are required by law to examine allegations of criminal activity that may have occurred outside of the country if the accusations implicate German residents.
On Monday, October 9, the German foreign ministry acknowledged that German people were among those seized by Hamas, the Islamist organization controlling Gaza, during its onslaught over the weekend on Israel. However, the ministry did not provide any specific data about the number of German citizens who were among those taken.
"We are working intensively with Israel regarding those who are kidnapped and missing," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron. "We are trying to do as much as possible to ensure the freedom, the lives, and the health of these citizens," he added.
The German daily Bild was the first publication that reported on the probe. It was claimed that the relatives of those who had been abducted had made a request for assistance to the German government.
Nearly 200,000 Gaza Residents Displaced
In a report released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Monday evening, almost 200,000 people in Gaza have been displaced as a consequence of the continuing war between Israel and Hamas.
The number of people forced to relocate is rising in tandem with the increasing number of fatalities on both sides of the war, The Hill reported.
On Monday, OCHA reported that over 187,518 people have been forced to leave their homes, making this the largest displacement since the 50-day escalation of violence in Gaza in 2014. Over 137,000 displaced people are being housed by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in approximately 83 schools. About 41,000 people whose houses had been damaged or destroyed were staying with friends and family.
Israeli military ordered the evacuation of dozens of villages close to the Gaza Strip as retaliatory bombings continued.
