DayofPal– Israeli officials are growing increasingly worried about the potential arrests of their soldiers who fought in Gaza and are now vacating abroad. This comes particularly after one soldier fled Brazil to avoid questioning over alleged war crimes he committed while in Gaza then filmed and shared on social media.
Leading the international accountability push is the Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a group formed only five months ago, but already gathering lawyers and activists from across the globe to build cases against Israeli soldiers.
The foundation’s primary evidence comes from social media content, much of it posted by Israeli soldiers themselves while bragging about their demolition operations they carried out in Gaza.
After 15 months of Israeli soldiers sharing videos of their possible war crimes in Gaza, HRF has gathered substantial evidence to support calls for prosecution, both domestically and internationally.
The disturbing footage includes scenes of soldiers forcing Palestinian men to march in their underwear, abusing prisoners, looting homes, and even wearing women’s clothes they had stolen.
This mounting evidence has solidified HRF’s resolve to hold those responsible accountable, shedding light on war crimes captured through the very devices utilized by the Israeli invading soldiers.
One of the first soldiers to face scrutiny is Israeli reservist Yuval Vagdani, who was on a “dream trip” to Brazil. He was abruptly forced to cut it short after he learned that an international war crimes investigation was being launched against him for filming himself destroying Palestinian homes in Gaza.
According to local reports, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs played a key role in helping Vagdani evade potential prosecution, arranging for his smuggling to Argentina, followed by a journey to the U.S., before finally returning to Israel.
In response to the threat of legal repercussions abroad, Israeli authorities and media have issued directives advising soldiers on how to avoid arrest and conceal their identities while deployed.
Milena Ansari of Human Rights Watch said that “The sense of impunity is absolute … It’s always been there, especially with regard to Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank, but it’s increased significantly since October 2023 [when Israel’s war on Gaza began].”
Therefore, the soldiers, she added, published the videos on social media while feeling “Proud of these acts.”
“Putting it online both adds to the dehumanisation of Palestinians as well as provides cause for actual celebration,” she told Al Jazeera.
Political scientist Ori Goldberg said that the Israelis “Don’t regard Palestinians as even human now, if they ever really did. To most people, Palestinians aren’t even vermin. Vermin has to be killed. Palestinians are less than that,” he said.
So far, Hind Rajab foundation named has filed more than 1,000 cases to the international court.
“This is about being accountable to the law,” said Dyab Abou Jahjah, a Lebanese activist and writer.
Hind Rajab is the name of a five-year-old girl who was deliberately killed in a car in Gaza by Israeli soldiers as she pleaded on the phone for three hours for help, surrounded by members of her dead family and in sight of the Palestinian paramedics who were also killed as they attempted to reach her.
“If individual soldiers feel they haven’t committed a war crime, that’s fine. Let’s hear their case. It’s in the interests of everyone to do so.”
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