Israeli army sniper in Chile accused of Gaza war crimes could face justice 

A Chilean court is considering a criminal complaint against a former Israeli army sniper who served in Gaza during Israel’s more than two-year-long genocide on the coastal enclave and the Palestinian people.

Rom Kovtun’s own social media posts revealed he was holidaying in the country, opening the door to what legal experts call “universal jurisdiction”. Kovtun, an Israeli-Ukrainian, served as a sniper in Israel’s 424th Shaked Battalion in Gaza.

Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman, reporting from Santiago, said images posted online show Kovtun swimming in a lake in south-central Chile with other former Israeli soldiers.

“His knack for posting leisure and wartime escapades on Instagram is what allowed the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) to file a criminal complaint in Chile, accusing him of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity,” she added.

The Belgium-based HRF is named after a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza in January 2024, and whose case drew global attention to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.

The HRF has assembled a global team of lawyers and activists to build legal cases, drawing mainly on social media posts published by Israeli soldiers themselves.

Universal jurisdiction

Chile’s domestic law incorporates the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Rome Statute, enabling courts to exercise universal jurisdiction in certain cases, Pablo Andres Araya, a lawyer with HRF, said.

“This applies when it’s clear that the person accused of these crimes will not be tried in his or her country of origin,” Araya told Al Jazeera.

“And there’s no question that soldiers who’ve committed atrocities in Gaza will not be tried by [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.”

Al Jazeera’s Newman reported that Kovtun laid siege to the enclave’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, between March and April 2024, allegedly playing a key role in the mass death of civilians and destruction that ensued.

The siege denied water, food, medicine and electricity to all those inside, leading to the death of an estimated 500 doctors, nurses and patients, including newborn babies.

‘No longer welcome’

“Chile is a favourite holiday destination for Israeli soldiers who’ve completed their military service,” Newman said. “But they’re no longer as welcome.”

The South American nation is home to the largest Palestinian diaspora outside of the Middle East, and Chileans in general are seen as sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

Nevertheless, Newman noted that none of it would have “any bearing on the case”.

“It’s a purely legal, complex judicial issue that could take time, enough time to allow the former Israeli sniper to be long gone,” Newman added.