Belgian NGO urges India to arrest Israeli reservist over alleged war crimes 

A Belgium-based NGO has called on Indian authorities to arrest an Israeli army reservist on holiday in northern India over his alleged role in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) filed a complaint Saturday with India’s Police Service, foreign affairs ministry and Bureau of Immigration of India to demand “the immediate arrest” of Eitan Gilboa, an Israeli citizen currently holidaying in Himachal Pradesh, according to an article published Tuesday on the NGO’s website.

“HRF has submitted a detailed investigative report proving that Gilboa, a reservist in the Israeli army, personally carried out and celebrated the systematic demolition of entire residential blocks in Gaza as acts of revenge, constituting war crimes under the Geneva Conventions Act, 1960,” read the website.

The evidence, HRF says, constitutes geolocated videos, social media posts, and chain-of-command documentation.

The NGO gets its name from a five-year-old girl who was killed in a car in Gaza by Israel in January 2024 as she pleaded on the phone for three hours for help, while surrounded by her dead family members and in sight of Palestinian paramedics who were also killed while they tried to reach her.

Formed just months after this incident which shocked the world, the HRF has gathered lawyers and activists from around the world to prepare cases like the one against Gilboa.

The NGO has filed more than 1,000 such cases to the International Criminal Court, primarily based on social media content shared by Israeli soldiers themselves, to seek prosecution under international and domestic law for Israeli soldiers committing potential war crimes in Gaza.

Born in Gaza, Gilboa and his family left the enclave after Israel’s withdrawal in September 2005.

Gilboa and several of his siblings returned to Gaza as soldiers after Israel’s genocidal war on the besieged enclave began in October 2023, which has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

“Upon returning, Gilboa staged photographs recreating scenes of his youth, juxtaposing himself against the ruins of Palestinian playgrounds and children’s toys amidst the rubble,” said HRF, imitating the tone of previous videos and stills shared by Israeli soldiers, which included forcing Palestinian men to walk around in their underwear and dressing up in women’s clothing they had pillaged.

Furthermore, “Gilboa documented the destruction of civilian buildings that he carried out, filming himself ordering, executing, and celebrating the demolition of civilian homes in Khan Younis and Rafah,” said HRF.

Gilboa’s mother then shared these videos on various social media platforms.

“The accompanying posts suggest that these demolitions were carried out as acts of retribution and dedicated to fallen IDF soldiers,” added HRF.

Gilboa’s actions while on duty in Gaza, said HRF, “violate the Fourth Geneva Convention”, which India ratified in November 1950.

“As a signatory to the convention, India is legally obligated under Article 146 of the Geneva Conventions to search for and prosecute individuals alleged to have committed grave breaches, regardless of nationality,” said HRF.

“Furthermore, the presence of Gilboa in India contradicts Article 51(c) of the Indian Constitution, which directs the State to foster respect for international law.”

Dyab Abou Jahjah, general director of HRF, called for India to immediately arrest Gilboa.

“Eitan Gilboa is not a tourist. He is a war criminal currently enjoying the hospitality of India while fleeing the consequences of his crimes. He has publicly documented himself turning entire neighborhoods in Gaza into ash and dust, dedicating these massacres to fallen soldiers as acts of revenge,” said Abou Jahjah in a statement.

“The videos show him triggering explosives that wiped out entire residential buildings in Gaza. India must act immediately to arrest him. It must not allow Indian soil to become a safe haven for those who celebrate the destruction of civilian lives.”

Al Jazeera was not immediately able to get a response from Gilboa during his holiday in the bohemian backpacker north Indian town of Manali.

HRF has “produced over 90 criminal complaints across 30 jurisdictions, including successful procedural outcomes in Brazil, Romania, Peru, Belgium, and Canada”, according to its website.

“HRF will not relent in its pursuit of accountability…India now holds both the suspect and the obligation to act.”