Tel Aviv Tribune Net correspondents
Occupied Jerusalem Israel is living in a state of confusion and confusion regarding the lawsuits being filed around the world against the Israeli army for committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip, as Tel Aviv is haunted by concerns about legal prosecution and the fear of arresting soldiers and officers while they are outside the country.
Complaints have escalated, led by the Hind Rajab Foundation, which is based in the Belgian capital, Brussels, against soldiers and officers due to the genocide crimes they committed in the Gaza Strip, as they are tracked, their movements and travel abroad are monitored, and complaints are filed against them in the countries they visit.
In the face of these challenges, concerns, and state of confusion, the leadership of the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army issued instructions that took immediate effect to conceal the identities of soldiers and officers participating in the war on the Gaza Strip, as well as imposing restrictions on travel abroad, and prohibiting the publication of photos, videos, names of soldiers, and content that may be used as evidence in Lawsuits in international forums.
Pursuing soldiers and officers
Since the beginning of the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, about 50 complaints have been filed against reserve soldiers abroad, and 12 investigations have been opened in several countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Thailand, and Cyprus. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Mossad, worked to free many… Of soldiers and officers and their smuggling from these countries.
The foundation – which was established in memory of the child Hind Rajab (5 years old), who was killed by the Israeli army by bombing a vehicle in which she was sheltering with six members of her family in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood at the beginning of last year – also submitted arrest requests for about a thousand Israeli officers and soldiers who hold dual nationalities in eight countries, including Spain, Ireland and South Africa.
The main danger threatening the soldiers and officers of the Israeli army, according to the description of the newspaper “Yedioth Ahronoth”, lies in the “countries hostile” to Israel, noting that the most prominent of these countries are Ireland, Brazil, Spain, Belgium and South Africa.
According to the newspaper, lawsuits have been filed against soldiers and officers in the Israeli army in Morocco, Norway, Belgium, Cyprus, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, Brazil, Thailand, Ireland, Serbia, France, and South Africa.
The Directorate of Public Security and Information of the Israeli army revealed that soldiers and officers who participate in the ground war in the Gaza Strip publish pictures and videos documenting what they are doing there, and daily they publish and upload about a million materials on social media, and they are used as evidence and data in complaints filed against them about… the world.
Action series
In an attempt to confront the legal prosecution of the Israeli army around the world, and for fear of the issuance of arrest warrants against soldiers and officers from the International Criminal Court, such as the arrest warrants issued against both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tel Aviv established an emergency room, while The Israeli Military Prosecution established a special unit for legal advice.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar instructed the emergency room to work confidentially and formulate working procedures to confront the prosecution of soldiers and officers abroad, and issued instructions to the Israeli Army Staff demanding that the military prohibit publishing and uploading any photos, videos, or documents from military operations and operational activities in the Gaza Strip on social networks. Social.
Sa’ar issued instructions to establish a “hotline” mechanism to receive inquiries from soldiers and civilians, who can contact him and obtain support and legal advice before traveling abroad or in the event that they are subjected to any judicial prosecution. Sa’ar also issued instructions to Israeli diplomatic headquarters around the world to establish mechanisms to monitor organizations that work against… Israeli army soldiers and officers abroad.
Commenting on the widespread phenomenon of complaints against soldiers and officers in the army, international law specialist Lawyer Tal Meron said that Israel has fallen into the trap of international law with everything related to the war on the Gaza Strip, indicating that there are real threats facing soldiers and officers if they travel abroad.
New legal threat
In his article in the Maariv newspaper, Meron estimated that the attempt to arrest the soldier in Brazil shows that Israel faces a new legal threat and lawsuits against ordinary soldiers in foreign courts, saying, “Unlike in the past, the target this time is not the Israeli high command, but the soldiers.” In the field, Israel needs a national strategy to confront this challenge.
It is believed that Israel received initial warning of a development that may turn into a wave of lawsuits around the world against the Israeli army, the likes of which we have not seen before, adding, “We have recently witnessed an increase in international criticism of the State of Israel, and there is a significant escalation in efforts aimed at isolating Israel and preventing the supply of weapons.” “This challenge will become more complex with each passing day and turn into a real danger.”
Lawyer Schneir Klein, a human rights specialist, wrote an article in the newspaper “Haaretz” entitled “The soldiers wanted abroad are not weeds, but rather the entire army,” in which he reviewed the dilemma facing the Israeli army around the world.
Klein says that Israeli reactions to these arrest orders represent not only indifference, but “a denial of reality.” He adds, “Some accuse Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy of not maintaining discipline in the army, as soldiers under his command upload videos of themselves demolishing homes in Gaza.” They carry out looting, dressing up in Gaza women’s clothes, and indiscriminate destruction, all without any disciplinary punishment.”
He considered that “all the war crimes and crimes against humanity that Israel is accused of, for which there is a lot of evidence – some of which was published by the soldiers themselves – are true, and these practices of soldiers and officers are not considered a deviation from the army’s approach and the government’s policies. They are an advantage for the army in this war, and not a mistake or deviation.” About the rules.