Belgian police question Israelis over alleged Gaza war crimes
The two people were questioned after legal complaints were filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Global Legal Action Network. The complaints were submitted on Friday and Saturday as the soldiers attended the Tomorrowland music festival in Belgium.
'In light of this potential jurisdiction, the Federal Prosecutor's Office requested the police to locate and interrogate the two individuals named in the complaint,' said the prosecutor's office in a written statement on Monday. 'Following these interrogations, they were released.'
The questioning was carried out under a new provision in Belgium's Code of Criminal Procedure, which came into effect last year. It allows Belgian courts to investigate alleged violations abroad if the acts fall under international treaties ratified by Belgium – including the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1984 UN Convention Against Torture.
The prosecutor's office said it would not release further information at this stage of the investigation.
The Hind Rajab Foundation, based in Belgium, has been campaigning for legal action against Israeli soldiers over alleged war crimes in Gaza. It is named after a six-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed by Israeli fire while fleeing Gaza City with her family early in Israel's war on Gaza.
Since its formation last year, the foundation has filed dozens of complaints in more than 10 countries, targeting both low- and high-ranking Israeli military personnel.
The group hailed Monday's developments as 'a turning point in the global pursuit of accountability'.
'We will continue to support the ongoing proceedings and call on Belgian authorities to pursue the investigation fully and independently,' the foundation said in a statement. 'Justice must not stop here – and we are committed to seeing it through.'
'At a time when far too many governments remain silent, this action sends a clear message: credible evidence of international crimes must be met with legal response – not political indifference,' the statement added.
Israel's Foreign Ministry confirmed the incident, saying that one Israeli citizen and one soldier were interrogated and later released. 'Israeli authorities dealt with this issue and are in touch with the two,' the ministry said in a statement cited by The Associated Press news agency.
The incident comes amid growing international outrage over Israel's conduct in its war on Gaza. More than two dozen Western countries called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza on Monday, saying that suffering there had 'reached new depths'.
After more than 21 months of fighting that have triggered catastrophic humanitarian conditions for Gaza's more than two million people, Israeli allies Britain, France, Australia, Canada and 21 other countries, plus the European Union, said in a joint statement that the war 'must end now'.
'The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,' the signatories added, urging a negotiated ceasefire, the release of captives held by Palestinian armed groups and the free flow of much-needed aid.
On Sunday, the World Food Programme accused Israel of using tanks, snipers and other weapons to fire on a crowd of Palestinians seeking food aid.
It said that shortly after crossing through the northern Zikim crossing into Gaza, its 25-truck convoy encountered large crowds of civilians waiting for food supplies, who were attacked.
'As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire,' it said on X, adding that the incident resulted in the loss of 'countless lives' with many more suffering critical injuries.
'These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza.'
Gaza's Health Ministry described the Israeli attack, which killed at least 92 people, as one of the war's deadliest days for civilians seeking humanitarian assistance.
More than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023, according to local health officials. Much of the territory lies in ruins, with severe shortages of food, medicine and other essentials due to Israel's ongoing blockade.
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