Photo: 7kanal.
On 18 October, the Belgian Attorney General announced the launch of an investigation into a 22-year-old Israeli and Belgian citizen who serves as a sniper in the IDF and is allegedly involved in war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The suspect is a member of an elite IDF unit known as the Phantom Squad (Yahidat Rafaim), which has been operating in Gaza since October 2023. This was reported by Vesty.
This unit has 21 members, including citizens of the United States, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium. It is a Belgian citizen who is at the centre of the investigation. The investigation was launched on the basis of allegations made by Palestinian journalist Younis Tiraoui. He alleged that the unit’s snipers carried out “extrajudicial executions” and received testimony from an American soldier who said that even unarmed civilians were targeted during the operations.
The Belgian Minister of Justice said that the prosecutor’s office was thoroughly checking the allegations. He noted that although Israel has the right to self-defence, this does not exempt it from complying with international law.
Israeli political circles comment that no concrete action has been taken so far, and the investigation is being conducted on the basis of complaints from Palestinian organisations. “Israel is closely monitoring the situation,” Israeli sources stressed.
In addition, Israel points to similar cases in other countries. Soldiers with dual citizenship are increasingly being prosecuted for their social media activity. Similar precedents have occurred in the Netherlands and France, where investigations were subsequently closed.
