Legal group launches unprecedented criminal case against 1,000 Israeli soldiers over Gaza crimes
The Hague, Netherlands - A legal group has filed the largest-ever lawsuit at the International Criminal Court, accusing 1,000 Israeli soldiers of committing war crimes up to and including genocide in Gaza.
The Hind Rajab Foundation announced its "unprecedented and historic complaint" in a press release Thursday, saying it was charging 1,000 named individuals serving in the Israeli armed forces with "war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide."
Among them are high-ranking officers and dual-citizens, including 12 from the US, many of whom documented their own alleged criminal acts and freely posted them on social media, per the foundation.
The statement said that over 8,000 items of evidence had been submitted to the ICC, "including videos, audio recordings, forensic reports, and social media documentation" capturing – among others – the intentional killing of civilians, destruction of infrastructure, looting, and the blocking of aid.
Part of the 30 March movement, which advocates for Palestinian human rights and justice, the Hind Rajab Foundation is named after a six-year-old girl targeted and killed by Israeli forces along with her entire family in Gaza at the end of January.
The terror of her last moments were captured in a heart-wrenching phone call to emergency services, whom she begged for help as Israeli tanks closed in. Hind's name has since become a global rallying cry for Palestinian allies.
The ICC deals with cases involving international crimes committed by individual persons. Though Israel is not a member, Palestine is, which gives the court jurisdiction over any acts that took place on Palestinian territory.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with his defense minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leader (one since deceased), are the subjects of an arrest warrant request made by ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan.
Cover photo: AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP