Legal actions in Italy, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands targeted Israeli soldiers and Knesset members, while related proceedings in Lithuania and the United States sought to test the international reach of war crimes law.
The Hind Rajab Foundation filed six criminal complaints across four European countries during July 2026 as part of an expanding legal campaign against Israeli soldiers and politicians accused of involvement in war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Gaza.
The complaints were submitted in Italy, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands. They concerned seven people, including five serving or former Israeli soldiers and two members of the Israeli Knesset.
In separate proceedings highlighted by the organisation, the foundation challenged Lithuania’s refusal to investigate an Israeli soldier living in the country and joined efforts in the United States seeking an investigation into Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The cases form part of a legal strategy intended to prevent those suspected of international crimes from travelling or living abroad without facing scrutiny. The Brussels-based foundation says it has submitted more than 100 criminal complaints and other legal filings across more than 30 jurisdictions since 2024.
All the accusations remain allegations. The filing of a criminal complaint does not establish guilt, and the material released by the foundation does not indicate that charges or convictions have resulted from the six July cases. The named individuals and relevant national authorities were not quoted in the foundation’s monthly summary.
Italian complaint focuses on destruction of civilian infrastructure
The first complaint was submitted to prosecutors in Rome on 2 July against Israeli soldier Arik Ben Asulin, a member of the Israeli military’s 749th Combat Engineering Battalion.
The foundation accuses Ben Asulin of participating in the destruction of residential areas and civilian infrastructure, including Al-Azhar University and neighborhoods in Shuja’iya and around the Netzarim Corridor.
According to the complaint announced by the foundation, its evidence includes social media material allegedly published by Ben Asulin, including demolition videos and photographs showing him handling detonation cables.
The foundation maintains that the material connects him directly to controlled demolitions rather than merely placing him in the wider area where they occurred.
Ben Asulin’s battalion has faced broader allegations concerning extensive destruction in Gaza. Its deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel Adi Bekore, publicly described the unit’s objective in October 2023 as “flattening Gaza,” according to material cited by the foundation.
The Italian complaint alleges war crimes involving attacks on civilian and educational buildings, extensive destruction not justified by military necessity, extermination as a crime against humanity and acts contributing to genocide.
It asks Italian prosecutors to investigate under the country’s legal obligations arising from the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Knesset members accused of incitement
A second complaint was filed in the Netherlands against Knesset members Ram Ben Barak and Moshe Solomon while they were due to attend the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in The Hague.
The joint complaint against the two politicians accuses them of direct and public incitement to genocide.
Ben Barak was cited over his advocacy for the removal of Palestinians from Gaza and their dispersal among other countries. The foundation argued that describing such a movement as “voluntary migration” could not be separated from the bombardment, deprivation and destruction confronting Gaza’s population.
Solomon was accused of supporting permanent Israeli control and the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza. The foundation contends that such a programme would require the continuing displacement of Palestinians and the demographic transformation of the territory.
The complaint called on Dutch authorities to examine whether their public statements crossed the legal threshold from political advocacy into criminal incitement. Neither politician had been charged on the basis of the filing at the time of the foundation’s report.
Soldier visiting Lisbon becomes subject of Portuguese complaint
On 15 July, the foundation filed a criminal complaint in Portugal against Israeli soldier Etamar Ivry, whom it said was vacationing in Lisbon.
Ivry served in the 890th Paratroopers Battalion of the Israeli military’s 35th Paratroopers Brigade. The foundation alleges that he participated in operations that destroyed civilian buildings during the creation of the Netzarim Corridor between November and December 2023.
The corridor was established by the Israeli military across central Gaza, separating the north from the south. The foundation describes its creation as part of a strategy to depopulate northern Gaza and prevent displaced Palestinians from returning.
The Portuguese complaint relies partly on videos allegedly posted by Ivry showing controlled demolitions accompanied by celebratory captions.
It accuses him of war crimes involving attacks on civilian property, extermination as a crime against humanity and participation in destruction intended to make Gaza uninhabitable.
The case was filed under Portuguese Law 31/2004, which provides a basis for prosecuting certain serious violations of international humanitarian law committed outside Portuguese territory.
Urgent action sought after soldier identified at Tomorrowland
In Belgium, the foundation filed an urgent complaint against an unnamed Israeli soldier whom it identified at the Tomorrowland music festival.
The organisation asked Belgium’s Federal Prosecutor to take immediate steps before the soldier could leave the country. His presence in Belgium, it argued, provided the jurisdictional connection required for national authorities to examine crimes allegedly committed abroad.
According to the Belgian filing, the soldier served with a unit deployed in Gaza City and Rafah between October 2023 and November 2024.
The complaint focuses on the destruction of Palestine Square and surrounding buildings in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood during December 2023. The affected structures allegedly included homes, businesses, public buildings, educational facilities and premises used by the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children.
The foundation accused the soldier of involvement in attacks on civilian objects and extensive property destruction that was not justified by military necessity.
The case followed similar action at Tomorrowland in July 2025, when Belgian police detained and questioned two Israeli soldiers after a complaint filed by the foundation and the Global Legal Action Network. The two men were released and allowed to leave Belgium, but the Federal Prosecutor subsequently referred the case to the International Criminal Court.
Two soldiers face separate complaints in the Netherlands
The remaining two July complaints were filed against Israeli soldiers Almog Harari and Leon Khlebnikov.
Harari served in the 432nd Battalion, known as Tzabar, of the Israeli military’s Givati Brigade. The foundation accuses the battalion of forcibly removing Palestinian families from a school complex in Beit Lahia before setting the buildings on fire.
The complaint against Harari alleges that schools being used as civilian shelters were destroyed in October 2024 to prevent displaced residents from returning.
Evidence cited by the foundation includes geolocated social media posts, satellite imagery and witness accounts. The complaint alleges that Palestinian men and boys were separated from women and children during the operation, with some subsequently seen blindfolded and restrained.
Harari is accused of involvement in forcible displacement, attacks on protected educational buildings and extensive destruction not justified by military necessity.
In the sixth case, the foundation worked with the European Legal Support Center to file an urgent complaint against Israeli reservist and tank gunner Leon Khlebnikov.
Khlebnikov was in Utrecht to serve as a judge at the European Universities Debating Championships, according to the organisations. Their complaint to Dutch prosecutors accused him of participating in the demolition of a school in Rafah and publicly mocking its destruction.
The evidence included social media videos in which Khlebnikov allegedly presented the demolition as entertainment and made references to possible legal consequences in The Hague.
The foundation reported on 30 July that Dutch authorities had not taken action before the conclusion of Khlebnikov’s scheduled stay. No subsequent development was included in its monthly summary.
Constitutional challenge in Lithuania
Alongside the six new complaints, the foundation continued a constitutional case in Lithuania concerning Israeli soldier Sean Gor, who was living in the country and studying dentistry at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences.
The foundation originally complained to Lithuania’s Prosecutor General on 27 March 2026, alleging that Gor had participated in the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
A prosecutor refused to open an investigation on 9 April, finding that Lithuania’s universal jurisdiction provisions could be used only under limited conditions. That decision was upheld by the Vilnius City District Court on 27 April and the Vilnius Regional Court on 21 May.
The foundation subsequently petitioned Lithuania’s Constitutional Court, arguing that refusing jurisdiction merely because the alleged offences occurred abroad was incompatible with Lithuania’s Constitution and its international obligations.
The challenge could help determine how far Lithuanian courts are prepared to apply universal jurisdiction when an alleged perpetrator of serious international crimes is living within the country.
Ben-Gvir cancels planned New York visit
The foundation also pointed to the cancellation of a planned New York visit by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir as evidence that international legal action was beginning to affect the travel decisions of senior Israeli officials.
On 27 June, the foundation submitted a request for prosecution to the United States Department of Justice accusing Ben-Gvir of war crimes, acts of genocide and incitement. Together with the Center for Constitutional Rights, it also asked New York Attorney General Letitia James to investigate alleged violations of state law.
Ben-Gvir cancelled the planned visit before his expected arrival in July. The foundation described the decision as a significant result of the legal and public pressure surrounding the trip, although its published material did not independently establish why the minister cancelled.
The organisation acknowledged that preventing a visit was not the same as securing an investigation, prosecution or conviction. It nevertheless argued that the cancellation demonstrated how the prospect of legal scrutiny could restrict the international movement of Israeli political and military figures.
Testing the limits of universal jurisdiction
The July campaign illustrates the growing importance that Palestinian rights organisations are placing on universal jurisdiction, under which national authorities can investigate certain exceptionally serious crimes even when the alleged conduct occurred outside their territory.
The precise scope of the principle varies between countries. Some jurisdictions require the suspect to be physically present, while others impose nationality requirements or give prosecutors considerable discretion over whether an investigation should begin.
The Hind Rajab Foundation says its strategy extends beyond submitting initial complaints. Its lawyers continue to provide evidence, challenge prosecutorial refusals and press national authorities to comply with what the organisation considers their obligations under international law.
The legal outcomes remain uncertain, but the campaign has already increased the possibility that soldiers and political figures accused of offences in Gaza could encounter police questioning, travel disruption or judicial scrutiny when entering other countries.
For the foundation, that expanding exposure is central to its declared objective: ensuring that people suspected of crimes against Palestinians can no longer assume that international travel will provide them with a safe haven from accountability.
