Chief prosecutor Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is in Israel at the request of Israeli survivors and the relatives of those killed in the October 7 Hamas attacks from Gaza, the court announced on Thursday.

According to the ICC, Khan will also go to Ramallah in the occupied West Bank to meet with high-ranking Palestinian leaders.

The ICC stated that the visit “represents (an) opportunity to express sympathy for all victims and engage in dialogue” and that it will not be an investigative tour.

Last month, Israeli families of victims of the Hamas attacks appealed to the ICC to order an investigation into the killings and abductions.

The families had urged Khan to focus his investigation on Hamas’ Oct. 7 actions in southern Israel, including enforced disappearances, which the court views as a crime against humanity.

Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages, Israel said. That prompted an air and ground counterattack by Israel in which more than 15,000 Gazans have been confirmed killed, according to Palestinian health authorities deemed reliable by the United Nations. A further 6,500 are missing, many feared still buried under rubble.