It's a discreet battle, waged far from the Gaza Strip, and its latest flare-up has rekindled Israel's concerns. Suspected of war crimes committed in the Palestinian enclave, an Israeli reservist had to flee from Brazil on Sunday, January 5 while on vacation in the country. The consular service of the Israeli embassy in Brasilia "accompanied" the soldier, said the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as if to assure Israel's support to all those who might be questioned by foreign courts for their role in the war in Gaza.
The intervention followed a decision by Brazil's Federal Court, which on December 30, 2024, ordered the opening of an investigation against the 21-year-old soldier following a complaint by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), which gets its name from a 6-year-old girl allegedly killed by Israeli fire in Gaza in February 2024. Accusing him of "participating in massive demolitions of civilian homes in Gaza during a systematic campaign of destruction," the Brussels-based foundation, which aims to "break the cycle of Israeli impunity," as stated on its website, has submitted photos and videos in support of this legal complaint, backed by victims' families, "showing the suspect personally planting explosives and participating in the destruction of entire neighborhoods." Maira Pinheiro, the Brazilian lawyer mandated to plead the case for the Belgium-based organization, called for the soldier's immediate arrest, claiming that he risked absconding and destroying evidence.
After this episode, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs was keen to draw the attention of Israelis "to posts on social media about their military service, and to the fact that anti-Israeli elements may exploit these posts to initiate futile legal proceedings against them," On X, Ken Roth, former director of Human Rights Watch and professor at Princeton University, lamented that "instead of insisting that its troops not commit war crimes in Gaza, Israel warns them not to post their actions on social media."
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