A German-Israeli IDF sniper has taken legal action against The Guardian newspaper and several German papers for falsely identifying him and publishing his photo in an article about war crimes.
In 2024, The Guardian ran an article about an IDF sniper named C., in which he admitted to having carried out, alongside his sniper partner, killings of unarmed civilians in November 2023.
The Guardian worked on the investigation for five-months alongside Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) and Paper Trail Media, Der Spiegel, and ZDF.
C., however, had never intended for the comments to become public. He had been approached by a Hebrew speaker who claimed he wanted to write about the squad’s experiences and to commemorate fallen soldiers. However, Palestinian journalist and activist Younis Tirawi posted extracts of the interview online, justifying the decision by saying it was in the public interest, given the scale of civilian killings.
Full names, faces published without confirmation from the indiviuals
While C. did not name his partner, The Guardian identified him in the article as a German-Israeli citizen, G., and published his full name and photo. This was done without any confirmation from the individuals involved.
One line read “C. and G.’s location has been traced from photos and videos taken by Israeli soldiers showing the two snipers aiming their weapons through a window and a hole in the wall.”
However, G. wasn’t even in the area at the time, nor was he C.’s partner or even in the same squad.
“C. gave an interview to a very shady Palestinian activist who said it is for a completely different purpose and recorded him when he was allegedly off the record,” G.’s lawyer, Joachim Nikolaus Steinhoefel, explained to The Jerusalem Post. “They had a five-hour interview, they cut that together in 40 minutes, edited it misleadingly, and in this interview, C. says ‘my partner shot certain individuals of the Doghmosh clan.’”
“The whole article is about my client who wasn’t even there,” Steinhoefel added. “I have affidavits from his commanding officers in the IDF saying he wasn’t at the location at the time of the events. They just made that up.” C. has also signed an affidavit saying that G. was not there at the time.
Steinhoefel sent a cease and desist letter to The Guardian and the responsible editor, which both parties signed, therein promising not mention his full name or pictures again to avoid a contractual penalty.
However, the damage was done.
German papers Der Spiegel, ZDF, and Abendzeitung had already published extensive pieces with photos and names. The papers gave G. no opportunity to respond before the articles were published.
As a result, G.’s identity quickly spread on social media, German media, and Arab media, with accusations of war crimes and threats to his life. German human rights group ECCHR filed a formal complaint against both C. and G. for the killing of unarmed civilians in Gaza.
“Imagine that a guy who has nothing to do with that is exposed with his name and picture as a killer of innocent civilians, and then it goes viral. It is unbelievable. It fits very well in this antisemitic narrative of The Guardian and several other media outlets.”
Other soldiers in the same IDF unit were also doxed by Tirawi, and their full names and photos were posted online.
Legal action against the newspapers
As noted, The Guardian signed a cease-and-desist letter agreeing to remove mentions to G. and his photo from its coverage of the story. Steinhoefel has also demanded €100,000 in monetary compensation from The Guardian for the soldier.
Steinhoefel then requested the German courts to issue an injunction against the Abendzeitung newspaper group. An injunction is a legal order that would stop the newspapers from publishing these false statements about G.
Specifically, G. wanted the court to stop newspapers from saying or spreading that he was involved in the killing of civilians as part of a sniper duo, and stop them from publishing other statements that are defamatory or harmful to his reputation, such as claiming he was part of military actions he wasn’t involved in.
G.’s legal team highlighted the personal danger he faces due to the false accusations made about him. G. has received threats on social media and other platforms, including violent threats and posts that openly discuss his identity and location, which endanger his safety.
Steinhoefel argued that the evidence the newspapers used to accuse him of war crimes was unreliable and manipulated, and that, by publishing false identifying details about G., it violated his personal rights.
The court did decide to issue an interim injunction against Abendzeitung Verlags-GmbH and Abendzeitung Digital GmbH (the defendants), thereby prohibiting them from publishing or spreading certain defamatory statements about G.
Failure to comply with the injunction (by continuing to publish such statements) could result in the defendants having to pay significant fines or face imprisonment.
The court also prohibited the papers from spreading statements from Alexander Schwarz (a legal expert), who suggested that G. should be investigated for war crimes.
Abendzeitung confirmed that it would not challenge the court’s decision.
“What we are witnessing here is not only a complete disregard for basic journalistic principles, it is an almost activist, anti-Israel witch hunt by media outlets such as Spiegel, ZDF, and others against an innocent person,” Steinhoefel said, adding that the false identification has led to an “almost irreversible global threat” to G.’s safety.