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Euronews
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Have Dutch police arrested Israelis for war crimes?
Images have been shared on social media in recent days, allegedly showing Israeli military personnel being arrested by Dutch police. One photograph shows a police officer guiding a young woman by the arm. The caption shared alongside the picture in several posts states that it shows an Israeli named 'Yukhal Yulita' being arrested. "BREAKING: Dutch police have hauled in Israeli officer Yukhal Yulita while she vacationed in Europe — accused by human rights groups of war crimes in Rafah, where Israel massacred civilians and levelled entire neighbourhoods," the post, shared on X, Facebook and LinkedIn, read. Another picture claims to show Dutch police arresting a supposed Israeli major general called 'Shitan Shaul', who is allegedly a commander of the Armoured Corps. Again, social media users say he is being arrested on charges of committing war crimes in Rafah, near the Egyptian border. A British partygoer and an Irish gangster However, reverse image searches for both pictures revealed that the photographs feature different people who were arrested in other countries than claimed in the social media posts. The image shared in posts related to the supposed arrest of Yukhal Yulita dates back to August 2016. It featured in an article published at the time by the British tabloid paper The Daily Mail on people partying in the English city of Newcastle on the August Bank Holiday, which falls on the last Monday of August. In the article, the photograph caption reads: "Police march a petite girl (right) away from the scene in the city centre". Additionally, the label on the police officer's uniform states "police", while in the Netherlands, uniforms have the Dutch word for this role, "politie", written on them. Meanwhile, the picture claiming to illustrate the recent arrest of 'Shitan Shaul' in fact dates to September 2022. This photograph was included in articles by various media outlets on the arrest of "one of Europe's biggest money launderers", named by Irish newspapers as John Francis Morrissey, during a raid in southern Spain. The operation was led by Spain's Guardia Civil—one of the country's two national police forces—of which an officer can be seen to the detainee's left in the photo, as well as the Irish Garda, of which the logo can be seen on the uniform of the person to the right in the picture. None of the uniforms correlates with that of the Dutch police. A spokesperson for the Dutch National Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed to Euroverify that the Dutch police had not arrested any Israeli citizen going by the name 'Yukhal Yulita' or 'Shitan Shaul'. "No Israeli soldiers have been arrested in the Netherlands for committing war crimes," the spokesperson added. Belgian arrests The same photograph of the young woman being escorted by British police also featured in a viral social media post that again referred to her as an Israeli soldier named 'Yukhal Yulita'. The post stated she was one of two Israelis arrested in Belgium in connection with alleged war crimes. "Belgian police have arrested two Israeli terrorists in connection with allegations of war crimes related to the conflict in Gaza," the post read. "The allegations include serious violations of international humanitarian law, such as the use of human shields and wanton destruction, with evidence drawn from the soldiers' social media activity." Two members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were indeed detained by police in Belgium after a complaint was filed against them by the Belgian-based NGO Hind Rajab Foundation and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN). They claimed the two, allegedly members of the Givati Brigade, committed serious war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The NGO monitors social media platforms to track Israeli soldiers on leave who post photos from abroad. These are usually preceded by footage from Gaza. Using these posts, the Hind Rajab Foundation calls on host countries to arrest and prosecute them. The soldiers were attending the dance music festival Tomorrowland in Belgium, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office—which received the complaints—confirmed. Here, they were reportedly seen waving their military unit's flag. However, the image of the young woman shared in the viral social media post does not illustrate the Belgian arrest of these two soldiers. The cases were referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). "The International Criminal Court is currently conducting an investigation into possible serious violations of humanitarian law in the Palestinian territories," the Public Prosecutor's Office said. The court in The Hague has issued three public arrest warrants related to the Israel-Gaza conflict since the 7 October attacks. The arrest warrants are for the highest commander of the military wing of Hamas, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant. The Hind Rajab Foundation welcomed the decision to refer the cases to the ICC, stating this "confirms that the matter has reached the highest level of international legal attention". However, the NGO was critical of Belgium, arguing it should have gone further. "In our view, the suspects should not only have been arrested, but also detained and either prosecuted in Belgium or extradited to the ICC," a statement read. "Releasing individuals credibly accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity not only undermines public trust in justice, but risks reinforcing a sense of impunity and may enable those individuals to commit further atrocities."
Irish Daily Mirror
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
Activist uses pic of Kinahan gangster in 'war crimes' claim
An activist has used a photo of an infamous Kinahan mobster being arrested in Spain – to claim that cops in The Netherlands arrested an Israeli military officer on suspicion of war crimes in Palestine. The photo - alleged to feature Major General Shitan Shaul - was put up on a Twitter/X account last week and has now gone viral, but it actually shows Kinahan gangster Johnny Morrissey being arrested in Spain in 2022. The post, by a user who describes himself as a socialist and author who supports Jeremy Corbyn and is a former member of the British Labour Party, was published late last week – and has already been viewed more than 276,000 times. It claims the general was arrested after he was spotted on a beach in The Hague in the Netherlands. It claims he was arrested over alleged war crimes committed in Rafah, southern Gaza, which has been pounded by Israel since Hamas' murderous attack on the Jewish state in October 2023 that left more than 1,200 people dead. Israel has mounted a massive attack on Gaza ever since and more than 60,000 people have died. The reaction to the Israeli onslaught has seen the country pilloried around the world – and condemned on social media. And now an activist has taken to Twitter to use an image of key Kinahan ally Johnny Morrisey – one of seven men named publicly as being part of the €1 billion cartel – against the Israeli commander. The tweet is accompanied by a photo of Morrissey with his eyes blacked out and says: 'Dutch police have arrested Israeli Major General Shitan Shaul commander of the Armored Corp this morning on charges of committing war crime in Rafah. 'Charges were brought forward by a human rights organization as he was spotted enjoying his summer vacation on The Hague beach.' But X users quickly spotted the photo was wrong – and community noted the post. That's when other X users point out mistakes in someone else's post. The note, visible underneath the post, says: 'Originally taken on September 15, 2022, this photo depicts the arrest of Johnny Morrissey ("Johnny Cash") by Spanish police. A prominent figure in the Irish Kinahan cartel, Morrissey was arrested at his home in Costa Del Sol, Spain over a €200m money-laundering scheme.' Morrissey, 64, was arrested by the Guardia Civil in September 2022 as part of a probe into suspicions he was involved in money laundering and was involved in a crime gang – the cartel led by Daniel Kinahan. The Irish citizen was finally released on bail in November 2024, but investigations are ongoing. In April 2022, US authorities named him as a key member of the cartel. They claimed he was materially assisting, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support to the gang and also alleged he was once an enforcer for them. He was one of seven men sanctioned by US authorities – including Daniel Kinahan, 47 and his father Christy, 67 and brother Christopher, 44. The US also put a $5 million bounty on the heads of the three Kinahan men – who are believed to be holed up in Dubai. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here . The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
