The International Criminal Court has yet to address the Bibas family’s case, despite the alleged murder of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons after Hamas terrorists abducted them from their home during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Ariel Bibas, 4, his 9-month-old brother Kfir and their mother, Shiri, became among the most recognizable faces of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza. All three were later killed, and Shiri’s uncle, Maurice Shnaider, is now seeking accountability for their deaths.
Before ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan was removed over alleged misconduct, his office oversaw the court’s 2024 arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammad Deif. The warrants accused the men of various war crimes and crimes against humanity.
This combination of pictures created on February 20, 2025, shows posters bearing the portraits of Israeli hostages Shiri Bibas (C) and her two sons Ariel (L) and Kfir (R), held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas terrorists. The three were brutally murdered by terrorists. (AFP Via Getty Images)
Elliot Malin, a legal expert and president of Stratos Council, told News Outlet that the ICC under Khan had pursued what he described as “selective justice.” In 2025, Malin submitted two cases to the Office of the Prosecutor seeking warrants for leaders he alleges bear responsibility for war crimes, including genocide, in Israel and Gaza.
Malin filed his first submission in September 2025, asking the ICC to investigate and issue warrants for two Iranian officials over alleged crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide committed in Israel and Gaza on or after Oct. 7, 2023. He argued that the Islamic Republic is the principal force behind the proxy groups operating in the region and should therefore be held directly responsible for their actions.
The request was filed on behalf of Shnaider. According to the submission, he has lost members of his family across five generations to acts allegedly carried out with the intent to destroy Jews, including the Holocaust.
Hanukkah candles were lit in The Hostages and Missing Square, on Dec. 9, 2023, in Tel Aviv, Israel at places set at a festival table for the Bibas family, an Israeli family including 11-month-old baby Kfir, his 4-year-old brother Ariel and their parents Shiri and Yarden. They were being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (David Silverman/Getty Images)
On Oct. 7, Shnaider said he turned on the television and saw his niece, Shiri Bibas, being taken captive with her children. The family was later killed in Gaza. Shnaider said he can only hope Shiri did not have to witness what happened to her 4-year-old and 9-month-old sons.
Shnaider also lost his sister and brother-in-law, who were killed at Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7 assault. He said they were burned inside their home in a way so brutal that it defied description. When the time came for their burial, he said, little remained to place in the coffins.
The scale of his family’s losses, Shnaider said, remains impossible for him to fully process, leaving him overwhelmed and in tears. Although he says he will never understand the roots of such hatred, he believes he must continue fighting for justice in whatever way he can. He is calling on the ICC to act, warning that the court should be condemned as biased if it refuses to do so.
Flag with the logo of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on March 29, 2022, in Den Haag, Netherlands. (Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Although the filing against Iranian officials was submitted on behalf of the Shnaider family, Malin said similar cases should be brought for every family that lost relatives in the Oct. 7 attacks.
In December 2025, Malin submitted a second case seeking investigations and arrest warrants for more than a dozen Hamas members over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Palestinians in Gaza.
Iran internet blackout hardens into permanent digital repression system as regime treats citizens’ access as an existential threat after protests. ( Stringer/Getty Images)
Malin said Hamas leaders should also face direct scrutiny over what he calls the crime of genocide. In his view, statements made by Hamas attackers demonstrate that the Oct. 7 assault was not limited to a military objective and instead overwhelmingly targeted civilians.
According to Malin, attackers told victims on Oct. 7 that they would continue moving into Israel until no Jews remained in Palestine. He also cited phone calls in which one attacker reportedly celebrated killing Jews.
“They’re not talking about soldiers,” Malin said. “They’re not talking about people who, in the course of combat or conflict, would be allowed to be targeted. They’re talking about civilians.”
Malin said those now defending Hamas’ actions on Oct. 7 are, in his assessment, effectively defending what he describes as an act of genocide.
Hamas terrorists emerge in a show of strength escorting Red Cross vehicles carrying 3 Israeli hostages to be released as part of the cease-fire deal. (TPS-IL)
The case against Hamas leaders also notes their particular role in the deaths of innocent Gazans during the conflict that followed Oct. 7. “The goal there is to raise light of Hamas’ criminal conduct against Palestinians in Gaza,” Malin said. He pointed out Hamas’ use of civilians as human shields and their torture of civilians, which he says “we have years of evidence for.”
Malin said that the ICC has not responded to either of the cases he has filed. “If we don’t shed light on that at the ICC and the ICC refuses to do anything about it, then the only question for me… is what is the purpose that you serve?”
Malin argues that though the Iranian officials, one of whom was killed during the ongoing conflict with the U.S., were from a state that is not party to the statute, because the ICC has jurisdiction over Gaza, it is responsible for overseeing crimes committed there.
In response to questions about their response to Malin’s filings, the Office of the Prosecutor for the ICC told News Outlet, “On the Situation in the State of Palestine the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) is actively investigating all crimes committed within the Court’s jurisdiction since 13 June 2014. The investigation is ongoing, and the Office continues to collect evidence in that context.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. (Fox News)
The statement added, “The OTP carries out its mandate independently and impartially, in accordance with its founding treaty, the Rome Statute,” it continued. “The Office does not disclose details of the investigation to ensure the integrity of its processes and proceedings and to maintain the safety and security of all concerned, including victims, witnesses, the Office’s staff and all those who cooperate with the Office and support its activities.”
Malin said that Khan sought warrants against senior Israeli and Hamas leaders for the crime against humanity of extermination, which he described as “genocide without the intent [to commit genocide.]”
That warrant was denied for Israeli leaders, but ultimately approved for Deif, though he had been previously killed in an Israeli air strike.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed sweeping financial sanctions against the court. In a recorded video, Rubio charged, “Our message is clear: The United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC.”
