The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office has announced the opening of a criminal investigation against “unknown members of Hamas for suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization”, since among the people kidnapped and allegedly murdered by these militias in their incursion into Israel were German citizens.
“When there are German victims of terrorist acts abroad, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office always initiates an investigation ex officio,” explains legal expert Frank Bräutigam. “Therefore, This is not a surprising fact.and. For the initiation of preliminary proceedings, it does not matter whether it is realistic that at some point someone could be brought to justice here in Germany for the acts.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not given a number of nationals taken to Gaza by Hamas or killed during that incursion, since the majority of the victims have dual nationality. The spokesman for the Federal Prosecutor’s Office has not yet been able to say how the investigation will progress.
Among the German victims are Shani Louk, the 23-year-old girl with dyed hair and striking tattoos who the Hamas militias paraded around half-naked and bloodied in a jeep. In the videos that circulated on social networks she appeared unconscious and although she is presumed dead, there is no official confirmation. Added to the disappearance of Schani is that of the Berlin student Carolin Bohl, 22 years old. The 22-year-old’s sister posted a mourning statement on Instagram, but there has been no official confirmation either. Carolin would have been murdered in the Nir Os kibbutz, near the border with the Gaza Strip and where her boyfriend, a British man, had grown up. The student had planned to return to Germany that same day.
The third case known so far is that of a German-Israeli woman apparently kidnapped in the Gaza Strip. Yarden Romann was dragged into a car and kidnapped along with her husband and her young daughter. Yarden is the granddaughter of Jews who had fled Germany and came from the Bavarian city of Fürth. The woman, 36, was visiting her in-laws at Kibbutz Beeri in the border region. Shortly before the border with the Gaza Strip, the couple managed to jump out of the car with their son. As they fled, they became separated. The father and daughter hid in some bushes and managed to escape. Nothing is known about Yarden, who was further behind.