Belgian authorities interviewed two members of the Israeli army following allegations of serious humanitarian law violations committed in Gaza, the office of the federal prosecutor in Brussels said.
The two people were questioned after the legal complaints were filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Global Legal Action Network. Complaints were submitted on Friday and Saturday when the soldiers attended the Tomorrowland Music Festival in Belgium.
“In the light of this potential jurisdiction, the office of the federal prosecutor asked the police to locate and question the two people appointed in the complaint,” the prosecutor’s office said on a written statement on Monday. “After these interrogations, they were released.”
The interrogation was made under a new provision of the Belgian Criminal Procedure Code, which entered into force last year. It allows the Belgian courts to investigate alleged violations abroad if acts are of international treaties ratified by Belgium – including the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1984 United Nations Convention against Torture.
The prosecutor’s office said that he would not publish new information at this stage of the investigation.
The Hind Rajab Foundation, based in Belgium, campaigned for legal action against Israeli soldiers for alleged war crimes in Gaza. He bears the name of a six -year -old Palestinian girl who was killed by an Israeli fire as she escapes Gaza City with his family at the start of the War of Israel against Gaza.
Since its training last year, the Foundation has filed dozens of complaints in more than 10 countries, targeting both Israeli and high -ranking military staff.
The group welcomed Monday’s developments as “a turning point in the global pursuit of responsibility”.
“We will continue to support the current procedure and use the Belgian authorities to continue the fully and independent investigation,” the foundation said in a press release. “Justice should not stop here – and we are committed to seeing it.”
“At a time when far too many governments remain silent, this action sends a clear message: credible evidence of international crimes must be encountered by a legal response – and not political indifference,” added the press release.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel confirmed the incident, saying that an Israeli citizen and a soldier were interviewed and released later. “The Israeli authorities have dealt with this issue and are in contact with the two,” the ministry said in a statement quoted by the Associated Press News Agency.
The incident occurs in the growing international indignation in the conduct of Israel in his war against Gaza. More than two dozen Western countries called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza on Monday, saying that suffering had “reached new depths”.
After more than 21 months of fighting which sparked catastrophic humanitarian conditions for more than two million people from Gaza, the Israeli allies of Great Britain, France, Australia, Canada and 21 other countries, as well as the European Union, said in a joint statement that the war “had to end now”.
“The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,” added the signatories, urging a negotiated ceasefire, the release of captives held by Palestinian armed groups and the free movement of essential aid.
Sunday, the World Food Program accused Israel of using tanks, elite shooters and other weapons to shoot a crowd of Palestinians looking for food aid.
He said shortly after crossing the north of Zikim crossing Gaza, his convoy of 25 trucks met with large crowds of civilians while waiting for food supplies, which were attacked.
“While the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd was criticized by Israeli tanks, elite shooters and other shots,” he said on X, adding that the incident resulted in the loss of “countless lives” with many more suffering critical injuries.
“These people were just trying to access food to eat themselves and their families on the verge of famine. This terrible incident highlights the increasingly dangerous conditions in which humanitarian operations are forced to be carried out in Gaza. ”
The Ministry of Health of Gaza described the Israeli attack, which killed at least 92 people, as one of the deadliest days of the war for civilians in search of humanitarian aid.
More than 59,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza since Israel began his war in Gaza in October 2023, according to local health officials. A large part of the territory lies in the ruins, with serious shortages of food, medicine and other essential elements due to the current blockade of Israel.
