‘The only way to permanently eliminate Hamas,” says Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, president of Shurat HaDin, “is to cut off its funding. Without money to manufacture weapons, pay its smugglers, or finance its terrorists, Hamas cannot survive.”
In an interview, Darshan-Leitner – whose Israel-based nonprofit is known for pioneering the legal and economic fight against terrorism – outlined five key strategies her team of lawyers is pursuing to dismantle Hamas’s support networks and expose those aiding the group.
Taking on the ICC
One of Shurat HaDin’s most high-profile cases targets Karim Khan, the suspended prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In November 2024, under Khan’s leadership, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
“We could never have imagined how treacherous Khan would be,” said Darshan-Leitner. “After touring Israel, meeting victims’ families, and visiting the sites of Hamas’s atrocities, he returned to The Hague and equated Israel’s leaders with the barbaric Islamic terrorists, indicting Israeli leaders for war crimes – a stunning betrayal of the hostages’ families.”
In August 2025, Shurat HaDin filed a NIS 20 million lawsuit against Khan on behalf of the families of hostages Avinatan Or, Eitan Mor, and Omri Miran, accusing him of turning the ICC “into a branch office of Hamas.” The suit demands an inquiry into whether Khan acted against Israel to divert attention from personal misconduct allegations, which include numerous claims of sexual assault and harassment of which he has been accused.
“Even after Israel killed Hamas leaders Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar, and Ismail Haniyeh – all named in his own warrants – Khan refused to indict their successors or the Hamas leadership in Doha,” she said. “He effectively shielded them, aided their narrative, and targeted Israel instead. For that, we allege that he abetted terrorism.” The lawsuit, she added, aims not only to hold Khan accountable but also to deter future ICC prosecutors from similar unlawful bias.
Protecting Israel’s soldiers
Another Shurat HaDin initiative, the Shachpatz Project (Hebrew for “flak jacket”), provides legal protection to IDF soldiers and reservists facing harassment or prosecution abroad.
Darshan-Leitner explained that anti-Israel activists have been tracking reservists online using social media posts and facial recognition software, filing fabricated war-crimes complaints with foreign prosecutors, and seeking their arrest overseas.
The project offers a 24/7 legal hotline, pre-travel briefings, emergency alerts, and a global legal partnership coordinated through Chabad centers. A network of 600 volunteer attorneys, organized by Shurat HaDin, is available to assist if a soldier is detained abroad.
Shurat HaDin is also going on the offensive, suing organizations that have filed such false complaints – such as Hind Rajab, a Belgian group that has already petitioned for more than 1,000 arrest warrants against Israeli reservists.
“These soldiers put their lives on the line for Israel’s security; they have our backs,” said Darshan-Leitner. “They must know we’ll defend them and have their backs, wherever they go.”
Suing Al Jazeera for aiding Hamas
Shurat HaDin, in partnership with StandWithUs, has filed a $1 billion lawsuit in US federal court in Virginia against Al Jazeera, accusing the Qatari network of serving as Hamas’s “chief media arm.”
“Al Jazeera relentlessly promotes Hamas’s false narrative,” Darshan-Leitner said. “It pays terrorists for interviews, embeds with militants, and employs Hamas operatives as journalists. It is complicit in spreading terror.”
The suit invokes the US Anti-Terrorism Act, which prohibits providing services to designated terrorist groups.
“No terror organization today can survive without media that disseminates and amplifies its message. They need to influence the greater world of the righteousness of their cause, no matter how evil or violent,” she emphasized.
“By giving Hamas a global megaphone, Al Jazeera bears legal responsibility for the consequences of its propaganda and violence.”
<br>From Greta to Hezbollah
Shurat HaDin has also filed environmental crime complaints against Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who joined flotillas attempting to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. Video evidence, said Darshan-Leitner, shows Thunberg’s group throwing mobile phones into the sea – a violation of the MARPOL convention on marine pollution. Formal complaints have been lodged with British, Swedish, and international maritime authorities. Shurat HaDin wants Thunberg and her accomplices to be charged with polluting the Mediterranean Sea.
Closer to home, Shurat HaDin is representing families from the northern Israeli town of Majdal Shams, where 12 Druze children were killed in July 2024 by a Hezbollah missile that struck a soccer field.
“Hezbollah won’t appear in court; but since the rocket landed inside Israel, we have proper jurisdiction to try the case here,” Darshan-Leitner said. “Our goal is to trace and seize the group’s assets – including those moved through cryptocurrency or financial intermediaries in Lebanon and around the world – to enforce judgments against them.”
<br>A global legal front
Beyond these headline cases, Shurat HaDin has filed multiple actions since Oct. 7, which include suits against the International Red Cross for abandoning hostages; UNRWA for collaborating with Hamas; the Palestinian Authority for financing terrorism; and the Qatar Charity organization for funneling money to the terrorist groups in Gaza. The law center has numerous other suits that are being prepared, which will commence in the weeks ahead.
“We hope this war ends with every hostage home and every family receiving justice,” Darshan-Leitner concluded. “Until then, we will continue fighting – in the courts, in the financial system, and in every international forum. Law is one of Israel’s most powerful weapons in the struggle against terror, and the courtroom is one of our most strategic battlefronts to preempt future Oct. 7s.”
This article was written in cooperation with Shurat HaDin.