Belgium is facing mounting international pressure after revelations that it is hosting Colonel Moshe Tetro—an Israeli officer accused of genocide and war crimes in Gaza—as a diplomatic official. The Hind Rajab Foundation, a Brussels-based human rights group named in memory of a Palestinian child killed by Israeli tank fire, is demanding Tetro’s immediate expulsion and prosecution, warning that Belgium risks becoming complicit in one of the most egregious humanitarian crimes of the century.
A War Crimes Architect in the Heart of Europe
Colonel Moshe Tetro currently serves as Israel’s military attaché in Brussels, operating out of the EUCOM building on Rue de la Loi. But before taking up this diplomatic post, he was the head of Israel’s Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) for Gaza—an institution now widely blamed for facilitating a humanitarian catastrophe.
According to a formal complaint submitted by the Hind Rajab Foundation to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Tetro bears individual criminal responsibility for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide under Articles 6, 7, and 8 of the Rome Statute. He is specifically accused of:
- Implementing policies that starved Gaza’s civilian population, including cutting off food, water, medicine, and fuel, in what multiple UN agencies now describe as a “man-made famine” of catastrophic scale;
- Coordinating and facilitating direct attacks on medical facilities, including the high-profile assaults on Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and Naser Hospital in Khan Younis, in violation of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law.
These accusations mirror those already cited in the ICC’s arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, particularly with regard to the weaponization of starvation and deliberate targeting of protected civilian infrastructure.
Diplomatic Immunity as a Shield
Despite the gravity of these allegations, Colonel Tetro currently enjoys full diplomatic immunity in Belgium, a legal status that the Hind Rajab Foundation says should not shield him from accountability. The Foundation is calling on the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for Tetro and for the Belgian government to immediately revoke his diplomatic accreditation and declare him persona non grata, pursuant to Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
“No one accused of genocide and war crimes should enjoy sanctuary in the heart of Europe,” the Foundation said in a statement. “Belgium cannot credibly claim to support international justice while protecting those who destroy hospitals and starve civilians.”
A Symbolic Case: The Story of Hind Rajab
The Foundation’s namesake, Hind Rami Iyad Rajab, was a six-year-old Palestinian girl from Gaza City whose death became one of the most harrowing episodes of the war. On 29 January 2024, Hind was traveling in a car with her aunt, uncle, and cousins when the vehicle was shelled by Israeli tanks. She was the only survivor, and for three hours she remained trapped in the wreckage, speaking by phone with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), pleading: “I’m so scared, please come take me.”
A PRCS ambulance crew was dispatched to rescue her, having secured safe passage from Israeli forces. But both medics—Youssef Zeino and Ahmed Al-Madhoun—were killed when an Israeli tank fired directly at the ambulance. Hind’s body, alongside those of her relatives and the rescuers, was found twelve days later after Israeli forces withdrew. Independent forensic investigations later confirmed that both the car and ambulance had been struck by Israeli tank shells.
“Hind Rajab is not just a name—she is a symbol of every civilian child targeted, every medic murdered, and every atrocity that has gone unanswered,” said a spokesperson for the Foundation.
Gaza’s Mounting Civilian Toll
Colonel Tetro’s alleged crimes form part of a broader pattern that has turned Gaza into a graveyard for civilians:
- Since October 2023, over 56,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, with more than 15,600 of them children.
- In the past two weeks alone, over 500 civilians have been killed while queuing for food at aid distribution points.
- A single Israeli tank shelling on 17 June killed 59 people and injured 221 in Khan Younis.
These numbers continue to rise daily as Israeli forces maintain what human rights groups describe as a campaign of collective punishment and demographic destruction.
Belgium’s Complicity?
The Hind Rajab Foundation’s warning extends beyond the case of Colonel Tetro. Belgium is also under scrutiny for permitting the transfer of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel via Liège Airport, thereby facilitating airstrikes that have devastated civilian areas, hospitals, and refugee camps. Civil society organizations argue that these arms transfers, combined with Belgium’s protection of Tetro, make the government complicit in crimes under international law.
“Belgium is now not just turning a blind eye,” said Hala Qasrawi, a legal advisor to the Hind Rajab Foundation. “It is actively shielding individuals credibly accused of genocide, while enabling the supply of weapons used in these crimes.”
Multiple European states, including the Netherlands, have suspended military exports to Israel over humanitarian concerns. More than 230 organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have also called on EU countries to immediately halt arms shipments.
Legal and Moral Obligations
Legal scholars stress that diplomatic immunity cannot override a state’s obligations under international humanitarian law.
“There is no legal justification for hosting an individual implicated in genocide,” said Dr. Johan Verbeek, professor of international law at KU Leuven. “Belgium has a duty to cooperate with the ICC, not to obstruct it.”
The Hind Rajab Foundation has formally reiterated its demands:
- That the International Criminal Court issue an arrest warrant for Colonel Moshe Tetro;
- That the Belgian government revoke Tetro’s diplomatic status and declare him persona non grata;
- That EU institutions and member states recommit to international law and end the protection of war criminals.
A Test of Europe’s Values
“History will judge the choices made today,” the Foundation warned. “To shelter the architects of atrocity is to participate in them. Europe cannot preach human rights and peace while harbouring perpetrators of genocide.”
The world is watching Brussels—not just for its words, but for its actions.
