Israel warns troops off social media after Brazil seeks soldiers over Gaza
Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Israel has warned its troops against posting about their actions in Gaza on social media after a Brazilian court asked police to investigate an Israeli soldier who visited the country and was accused of involvement in war crimes.
The action, initiated by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a pro-Palestinian group, was based in part on video footage and photos that HRF claimed showed soldiers demolishing homes in Gaza.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday that embassy officials in Brazil immediately helped the man leave the country without detention.
“The State Department draws Israelis’ attention to social media posts about their military service and advises that anti-Israel elements may exploit these posts to initiate fruitless legal proceedings against them,” the ministry added.
The Brussels-based HRF hailed as “groundbreaking” the Brazilian Federal Court’s decision to recognize jurisdiction over the matter and order urgent police action.
“This is a historic moment,” said Dyab Abou Jahjah, HRF chairman. “It sets a strong precedent for nations to take bold action to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable.”
The incident is the latest example of the legal fallout from Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip, which Palestinian officials say has so far killed more than 45,800 people, reduced much of the territory to uninhabitable rubble and fueled a humanitarian catastrophe.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Benjamin Netanyahu’s government: “major political failure” He argued that the creation of a state commission of inquiry into the war – which Netanyahu has opposed – would have helped ward off such legal action.
“How did we get to the point where the Palestinians are better than the Israeli government on the international stage?” he wrote on X.
Israel launched the Gaza offensive in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, in which militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage, according to Israeli officials.
The UN’s highest court is hearing a South African case in which Israel is accused of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Israel has vehemently denied allegations of genocide, calling South Africa’s case “deeply distorted.” Israel says its forces in Gaza are acting in accordance with international law, and Netanyahu’s office has dismissed the arrest warrants as “anti-Semitic.”
Abou Jahjah said HRF had provided the ICC with evidence against about 1,000 Israeli soldiers to support its case against the Israeli leaders.
The group also compiled a list of soldiers suspected of involvement in war crimes and monitored their movements through their social media posts, he said.
“We knew immediately that he was in Brazil and filed a 400-page dossier against him just three days later,” said Abou Jahjah. “We do not target all Israeli soldiers, but only those suspected of committing war crimes.”
He added that they had collected evidence of alleged violations of international law that “start with intrusions into homes and the looting and destruction of property and extend to the destruction of entire neighborhoods, including hospitals, civil infrastructure and places of worship.”
“In addition, people are killed, kidnapped, tortured and posed with prisoners,” he said.
HRF has also filed war crimes cases against dozens of Israeli soldiers who hold dual citizenship in countries including Belgium, France and the Netherlands, with the aim of pursuing prosecutions there.
Some of these cases are still at an early stage of investigation, Abou Jahjah said, while others have been rejected by national judicial authorities and are being appealed by the HRF. “We are optimistic about the cases in Belgium,” he said.
