Latest news with #HindRajabFoundation
See - Sada Elbalad
31-07-2025
- Politics
- See - Sada Elbalad
Belgium Refers 2 Israeli Soldiers to ICC over War Crimes in Gaza
Israa Farhan Belgium's federal prosecutor has referred the cases of two Israeli soldiers to the International Criminal Court (ICC) following complaints accusing them of committing war crimes in Gaza. According to an official statement, the complaints were filed by the Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation against the two soldiers, who had arrived in Boom, Belgium, to attend the Tomorrowland music festival on 18 and 19 July. After reviewing the case, the prosecutor's office confirmed it has forwarded the files to the ICC. The decision was made in line with Belgium's international legal obligations and in the interest of ensuring justice is properly served. On 21 July, the Hind Rajab Foundation announced that the Belgian police had detained the soldiers and questioned them in connection with the allegations of war crimes. Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed the temporary detention and questioning of two of its citizens in Belgium, without disclosing the reasons behind the legal action. The incident comes amid growing international scrutiny of Israel's military actions in Gaza. Since 7 October 2023, Israel has conducted an extensive military campaign in the enclave, resulting in widespread devastation. Human rights organizations and international observers have described the offensive as a campaign of collective punishment involving killing, starvation, forced displacement, and infrastructure destruction, in defiance of repeated calls from the global community and warnings from the International Court of Justice. The conflict has resulted in over 206,000 Palestinians killed or injured, most of them women and children. More than 9,000 people remain missing, and hundreds of thousands have been forcibly displaced. The crisis has also triggered severe famine conditions, with countless lives lost due to lack of food, medicine, and humanitarian access. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News Israeli-Linked Hadassah Clinic in Moscow Treats Wounded Iranian IRGC Fighters Arts & Culture "Jurassic World Rebirth" Gets Streaming Date News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Business Egyptian Pound Undervalued by 30%, Says Goldman Sachs Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Arts & Culture South Korean Actress Kang Seo-ha Dies at 31 after Cancer Battle Arts & Culture Lebanese Media: Fayrouz Collapses after Death of Ziad Rahbani Sports Get to Know 2025 WWE Evolution Results
BBC News
22-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Two Israelis questioned after attending Belgium's Tomorrowland festival
Belgian police say they have questioned two Israelis after two pro-Palestinian groups alleged they had been waving flags from their army brigade at the Tomorrowland music men were briefly detained and then released after they had been interviewed, prosecutors Hind Rajab Foundation and Global Legal Action Network said they had filed a complaint after a group of young Israelis was seen flying the purple-and-white flag of the Givati Brigade, alleging the pair had committed war crimes in Givati flag was among several Israeli flags waved during a set by Israeli DJ duo Vini Vici at Tomorrowland last Friday. Prosecutors said no further details would be released about the case at this stage. The Hind Rajab Foundation called the arrest of the Israelis a "significant step forward".They are not thought to have been prevented from leaving BBC contacted the Israeli embassy in Brussels, which declined to comment other than to confirm that the two men had been detaining the pair, prosecutors said they had decided they could investigate the allegations under Belgium's universal jurisdiction law, which allows local courts to hear cases involving alleged crimes committed outside law was updated last year to enable Belgian police to gather evidence of European Jewish Association said in a statement that it was "deeply concerned" by the conduct of the Belgian authorities towards the two Israelis. "These soldiers were carrying out their lawful duties in defense of their country, duties comparable to those of any soldier serving in a democratic nation," the EJA Hind Rajab Foundation is chaired by Dyab Abou Jahjah, a controversial Belgian-Lebanese activist who has admitted joining Lebanese group Hezbollah when he was young. Hezbollah's military wing is proscribed as a terrorist group in the year's Tomorrowland festival went ahead last week even though a fire destroyed the main stage 48 hours before the event was due to of thousands flocked to the festival in Boom, near Antwerp, to hear acts including David Guetta and Lost Frequencies.
NBC News
22-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Belgium questions 2 Israelis at music festival over Gaza crime allegations
Belgian police questioned two members of the Israeli army who were attending a music festival in Belgium over allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza, the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Brussels said in a statement Monday. In a statement to The Associated Press, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said an Israeli citizen and an Israeli soldier who were on vacation in Belgium 'were taken in yesterday for interrogation and were released shortly afterward.' It said Israeli authorities 'dealt with this issue and are in touch with the two.' It was not immediately clear why the Israeli Foreign Ministry referred to one civilian and one soldier, while Belgian prosecutors spoke of two Israeli army members. The whereabouts of the two people who were questioned was not immediately clear. The case was hailed as a 'turning point in the global pursuit of accountability' by a Belgium-based group called the Hind Rajab Foundation, which has campaigned for the arrest of Israeli troops it accuses of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The group was named for a young girl who Palestinians say was killed early in the war by Israeli fire as she and her family fled Gaza City. It isn't the first time an Israeli has been targeted overseas for legal action. In January, Israel helped a former soldier leave Brazil after legal action was initiated against him by the group, which uses geolocation and social media posts to identify soldiers they accuse of war crimes. Since forming last year, the Hind Rajab Foundation has made dozens of complaints in more than 10 countries seeking the arrest of both low-level and high-ranking Israeli soldiers. It was not immediately clear if any soldiers have been arrested as a result of the group's actions. The group did not immediately respond to an email seeking details. 'We will continue to support the ongoing proceedings and call on Belgian authorities to pursue the investigation fully and independently,' the group said in its statement. 'Justice must not stop here — and we are committed to seeing it through.' Israel says its forces follow international law and try to avoid harming civilians, and that it investigates allegations of wrongdoing. In a written statement, the prosecutor's office said that the two army members — who were in Belgium for the Tomorrowland festival — were questioned after the office received legal complaints on Friday and Saturday from the Hind Rajab Foundation and another group. The prosecution office requested the questioning after an initial assessment of the complaints 'determined that it potentially had jurisdiction.' The Hind Rajab foundation said it filed its complaints along with the rights group Global Legal Action Network. The decision to question the two Israelis was based on an article in Belgium's Code of Criminal Procedure that went into force last year and grants Belgian courts jurisdiction over acts overseas that are potentially governed by an international treaty, in this case the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1984 United Nations convention against torture, the prosecution statement said. '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. Following these interrogations, they were released,' the statement said, without elaborating. It said it was not providing any further information at this stage of its investigation. The European Jewish Association criticized Belgian authorities for acting on what it called a politically motivated complaint. 'These soldiers were carrying out their lawful duties in defense of their country, duties comparable to those of any soldier serving in a democratic nation,' the association said in a statement. The news in Belgium came as the U.N. food agency accused Israel of using tanks, snipers and other weapons to fire on a crowd of Palestinians seeking food aid, in what the territory's Health Ministry said was one of the deadliest days for aid-seekers in over 21 months of war. The death toll in war-ravaged Gaza has climbed to more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians but the ministry says more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government, but the U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Irish Independent
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Belgium questions two Israelis over Gaza crime allegations after they travelled for music festival
In a statement to The Associated Press, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said an Israeli citizen and an Israeli soldier who were on vacation in Belgium 'were taken in yesterday for interrogation and were released shortly afterward'. It said Israeli authorities 'dealt with this issue and are in touch with the two'. It was not immediately clear why the Israeli Foreign Ministry referred to one civilian and one soldier, while Belgian prosecutors spoke of two Israeli army members. The whereabouts of the two people who were questioned was not immediately clear. The case was hailed as a 'turning point in the global pursuit of accountability' by a Belgium-based group called the Hind Rajab Foundation, which has campaigned for the arrest of Israeli troops it accuses of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The group was named for a young girl who Palestinians say was killed early in the war by Israeli fire as she and her family fled Gaza City. Israel says its forces follow international law and try to avoid harming civilians, and that it investigates allegations of wrongdoing. In a written statement, the prosecutor's office said that the two army members – who were in Belgium for the Tomorrowland festival – were questioned after the office received legal complaints on Friday and Saturday from the Hind Rajab Foundation and another group. The prosecution office requested the questioning after an initial assessment of the complaints 'determined that it potentially had jurisdiction'. The Hind Rajab foundation said it filed its complaints along with the rights group Global Legal Action Network. The decision to question the two Israelis was based on an article in Belgium's Code of Criminal Procedure that went into force last year and grants Belgian courts jurisdiction over acts overseas that are potentially governed by an international treaty, in this case the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1984 United Nations convention against torture, the prosecution statement said. '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. Following these interrogations, they were released,' the statement said, without elaborating.
ABC News
22-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Two Israelis detained at Belgium festival over Gaza war complaint
Two Israelis have been detained and questioned in Belgium as part of an investigation into war crimes in Gaza. Two rights groups, the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Global Legal Action Network, said the pair were detained after the groups told Belgian authorities there was credible evidence they had committed war crimes in Gaza. "The action came in response to an urgent legal complaint filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) earlier this week," the Hind Rajab Foundation said in a statement. Israel's Foreign Ministry confirmed two citizens on holiday in Belgium were briefly detained. It did not say whether they were held due to the war crimes allegations, but Belgium's public broadcaster said the prosecutor's office confirmed they were detained because of the complaint. The rights groups said Belgian authorities had opened a criminal investigation into the pair. The Hind Rajab Foundation is a legal non-governmental organisation registered in Belgium. It is named after a five-year-old Gazan girl killed by Israeli forces in January, 2024, in what UN experts said was a possible war crime. The group has been using the social media posts of travelling Israeli soldiers to track them and seek their arrests overseas using something called "universal jurisdiction", the legal principle that any state can try a person for a serious breach of international law, regardless of where the crime was committed. After the foundation began its campaign, the Israel Defense Forces released new restrictions on the media identifying its soldiers and told IDF members not to post about their actions in Gaza on social media. The Hind Rajab Foundation and other legal groups have sought the arrest of Israeli soldiers around the world — causing some holidaying Israelis to flee a number of countries — but the group said this was the first time authorities actually detained anyone. "This development is a significant step forward," it said in a statement. "It signals that Belgium has recognized its jurisdiction under international law and is treating the allegations with the seriousness they deserve. "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 Israeli government has sought to discredit the Hind Rajab Foundation, saying the group is "anti-Israel" and accusing its founder, Lebanese-born Belgian activist Dyab Abou Jahjah, of sympathising with the Shia militant group Hezbollah, a listed terrorist organisation in many countries, including Australia. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has called the group a "gang of Holocaust deniers, supporters of abducting Israeli civilians, and admirers of [former Hezbollah leader] the late [Hassan] Nasrallah". Pro-Israel politicians in Belgium sought to have the group de-registered but in May the country's justice minister said a state security evaluation had found no concrete evidence of links to Hezbollah or of any threat to the Belgian state. Dyab Abou Jahjah has previously responded to the Israeli allegations by saying he was never a member of Hezbollah and does not agree with the group's ideology.
