The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), the Palestinian-Belgian organization pursuing IDF soldiers who travel abroad, filed another such complaint in Amsterdam on Friday.
According to HRF, the young Israeli man served in the IDF as a sergeant in the “Zion” company of the 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion. This is not the first complaint the organization has filed in the Netherlands against Israelis.
According to the organization, the young man was involved in the destruction of the “Palace of Justice,” the Palestinian Supreme Court complex in Gaza. The organization claims this was the deliberate destruction of a civilian building and describes it as a war crime.
The main evidence presented by the organization consists of videos it claims the young man himself posted on Instagram in January 2024. In one of the videos, a voice can be heard saying things such as: “We will reach their court... We are everywhere,” and in another video, the controlled demolition of the building can be seen. For its part, the IDF claimed that the building was used as Hamas infrastructure.
Despite clear General Staff orders prohibiting soldiers from filming and sharing photos and videos in uniform or from combat zones, the IDF has yet to end the phenomenon, which is entangling them and the State of Israel. The organization is demanding that Dutch authorities open a criminal investigation, issue an arrest warrant, and seize the incriminating digital evidence.
HRF files over 80 complaints against Israelis
This is another complaint in a series of many that the organization has filed against Israelis abroad. So far, more than 80 complaints have been filed in more than 25 countries. In most cases, the complaints have been ignored or have not led to significant progress.
“A person who stood inside Gaza’s Supreme Court and declared: ‘We will reach their court, we will reach their homes’ is not a bystander,” said the organization’s director general, Dyab Abou Jahjah.
“The fact that he is now walking freely in Amsterdam, a city that historically protected the persecuted, is an inversion of justice that should concern every institution entrusted with preserving the international legal order. The Netherlands did not sign the Geneva Conventions in order to look away when the evidence reaches its doorstep. His camera did half the work. The question is whether the Dutch authorities will do the rest.”