The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a criminal complaint in the United Kingdom against Lidor Dafna, an Israeli reservist believed to be visiting the country, over alleged war crimes committed during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
asserted
Foundation → file → Gaza
Dafna, who served in the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion, is accused of participating in the demolition of a flour-producing facility in May 2025 at a time when Israel’s blockade of Gaza was leading to widespread starvation.
uncertain
blockade → serve → starvation
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Khalil → brace → politics
The foundation said footage posted by Dafna on social media shows an Israeli military bulldozer demolishing wheat silos in southern Gaza.
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bulldozer → say → Gaza
The filing is the latest move by the Brussels-based organisation, named after Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl killed alongside her relatives when Israeli forces fired on their vehicle in Gaza City in January 2024.
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forces → base → January
By transforming self-published digital content into evidence for criminal complaints, the foundation is testing whether legal systems in other countries may be used to hold Israeli soldiers accountable for alleged crimes.
uncertain
soldiers → transform → crimes
Natacha Bracq, head of litigation at the foundation, explained the urgency of the UK filing to Al Jazeera.
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Bracq → explain → Jazeera
“If the authorities let him leave, he [Dafna] will go back and commit more crimes.
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he → let → crimes
When a state waves a suspect through its airport, knowing what is documented, it is breaching its obligations to prevent and punish genocide.”
Al Jazeera has reached out to the UK’s Metropolitan Police for comment on the case but has yet to receive a response.
For the families of victims in Gaza, the pursuit of justice through international channels is a response to the failure of internal Israeli accountability mechanisms.
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pursuit → wave → mechanisms
Speaking from Gaza, the 45-year-old grandmother and namesake of Hind dismissed internal Israeli military investigations.
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grandmother → speak → investigations
“The occupation [Israel] claims that it opens criminal justice or an investigation for their soldiers, [but] we are certainly not very interested in this topic,” she stated.
uncertain
she → claim → topic
“They just justify their positions to the world, … but actually on the ground, I don’t think anything happens.”
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anything → justify → ground
The foundation’s broader goal resonates deeply with families seeking justice for children killed during the war.
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goal → resonate → war
Hind means surely there are many crimes like hers and more,” her grandmother added.
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grandmother → mean → hers
“We support anyone who speaks in the name of childhood [and always supports] the Palestinian child.”
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who → support → child
Turning social media posts into evidence
The Hind Rajab Foundation’s methodology relies heavily on material published by Israeli soldiers themselves.
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methodology → turn → soldiers
“Our starting point is simple: Israeli soldiers documented their own crimes.
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soldiers → document → crimes
They’ve posted tens of thousands of photos and videos from Gaza and Lebanon on TikTok, Instagram, X and Telegram, often with their faces and names attached,” Bracq said.
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Bracq → post → TikTok
This digital footprint requires rigorous processing to become potentially admissible in legal cases.
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footprint → require → cases
“Our collection and analysis follow the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations.
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collection → follow → Investigations
Then the real work starts: verification.
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work → start → ?
We geolocate every frame against satellite imagery, matching buildings, roads, water towers, destruction patterns,” Bracq said, noting that investigators then cross-reference military sources to tie a suspect to a documented act.
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investigators → geolocate → act
The Berkeley Protocol, developed by the Human Rights Center at the University of California in Berkeley and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, sets out standards for collecting, verifying, analysing and preserving digital material.
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Protocol → develop → material
Khaled al-Shouli, an international lawyer registered with the Jordanian Bar Association who represents Palestinian victims before the International Criminal Court (ICC), said social media material could be valuable evidence.
“Its value does not decrease simply because it is a post on the internet, nor does it become decisive simply because it has spread,” al-Shouli said.
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Shouli → register → internet
He stressed, however, that answering fundamental questions about the source, time and place is essential.
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answering → stress → source
“The crucial difference is the transition from proving the occurrence of the crime to proving the responsibility of a specific person for it as the appearance of a soldier in a place does not alone prove his commission of the crime,” he said.
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he → prove → crime
The foundation’s complaints have prompted authorities in several countries to question Israeli military personnel.
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complaints → prompt → personnel
Bracq pointed to a significant breakthrough in Belgium, where a complaint filed by the foundation led federal police to detain and question two Israeli soldiers.
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complaint → point → soldiers
Both were subsequently released.
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Both → release → ?
“That arrest matters beyond the two individuals involved.
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arrest → matter → individuals
It demonstrated that universal jurisdiction is not a theoretical instrument but one that puts suspects in a police station within hours, and the Belgian federal prosecutor has since referred the case onward to the International Criminal Court,” she stated.
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she → demonstrate → Court
Similar actions have disrupted travel for an Israeli in North America.
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actions → disrupt → America
In Canada, former combat soldier Guy Hochman was detained and interrogated for six hours at Toronto Pearson Airport after a complaint was filed accusing him of war crimes and incitement to genocide.
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complaint → detain → genocide
He later said his Canadian visa had been revoked.
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visa → say → ?
“These are ruptures in a system of impunity: the moment Israelis calculate that travelling abroad carries a real legal risk,” Bracq emphasised.
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Bracq → calculate → risk
Al-Shouli clarified the legal architecture supporting these moves, distinguishing between national courts and the ICC.
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Shouli → clarify → courts
“The Palestinian case relies on a set of matters that fall under the category of territorial jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Palestinian territories and not on absolute universal jurisdiction,” he noted.
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he → rely → jurisdiction
“This distinction is important because the multiplicity of paths expands the opportunities for accountability and does not leave it hostage to one institution.”
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multiplicity → expand → institution
Limits of legal action
A Hind Rajab Foundation complaint in Brazil highlighted both the potential and the limitations of filing cases against Israelis in the courts of other countries.
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complaint → highlight → countries
In January 2025, Brazilian authorities issued an urgent order to arrest and investigate an Israeli soldier accused of planting explosives and systematically demolishing entire civilian neighbourhoods in Gaza.
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authorities → issue → Gaza
…and 20 more, not listed.
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