Middle East Monitor / January 6, 2025
The Israeli army has warned its personnel that they risk arrest if they travel abroad after one of its soldiers fled Brazil while being investigated for possible war crimes in Gaza, local media reported yesterday according to Anadolu.
Human rights organisations have been tracking soldiers and filing legal cases against them for taking part in the ongoing war on the Palestinian enclave, according to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.
Lawsuits have reportedly been filed in South Africa, Sri Lanka, Belgium, France and Brazil.
The report said the army’s warning was particularly directed at reservists, as active-duty personnel cannot travel abroad without prior approval.
It also noted that Israel is in contact with countries where complaints have been filed against its soldiers, attempting to prevent investigations that could lead to arrests.
Israeli media reported earlier that a soldier accused of committing war crimes in Gaza had fled Brazil, where authorities were pressing for an investigation into his actions.
The move stems from a complaint filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a Belgium-based organization advocating for justice for Palestinian victims, said the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (KAN).
According to Israel’s Channel 12, the complaint includes over 500 pages of evidence such as videos, geolocation data and open-source intelligence linking the soldier to the destruction in Gaza.
Despite a court order, the soldier, a reservist who was in Brazil as a tourist, managed to leave the country and is reportedly en route to Israel, KAN said. Details of how he evaded arrest remain unclear.
In a statement, HRF condemned the soldier’s escape, accusing Israel of orchestrating his departure to obstruct justice.
The organization said earlier that it had “verified information that Israel is imminently attempting to smuggle suspected Israeli war criminal Yuval Vagdani out of Brazil because of a Brazilian court order for police to take investigative measures against him.”
His escape follows similar incidents involving Israeli soldiers abroad.
Last month, a Palestinian advocacy group in Sri Lanka called for the arrest of an active-duty Israeli soldier spotted in the country, prompting his immediate evacuation by Israeli authorities, according to Channel 12.
Haaretz said the Israeli government and security establishment are preparing a plan to help evacuate reserve soldiers in the event of their arrest in foreign countries and are in the process of hiring local law firms in those countries.
In this context, a joint body was formed including the military prosecution, the foreign ministry, the National Security Council and the Shin Bet, with the aim of analysing the level of risk to soldiers in several countries.
This came after a number of human rights organizations were monitored in Israel to create a stockpile of evidence, photos and video clips published by Israeli soldiers on social media platforms during the war on Gaza, according to the paper.
The paper added that officials in the Israeli civil and military justice system have warned the political echelon that without the formation of an official commission of inquiry into the war in Gaza, Israel will not be able to protect its soldiers abroad, noting that these fears were realized following the issuance of international arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court in The Hague against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 45,800 people, mostly women and children, since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on the enclave.
