Israel military warns 30 troops against travel abroad amid legal cases over Gaza war crimes

Israel’s military has warned dozens of its personnel who participated in the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip to avoid foreign travel after complaints were filed against them for war crimes.

According to the Israeli outlet, Ynet News, the Israeli military’s warning was given to around 30 soldiers and officers who fought in Gaza and who had then travelled abroad to countries including Cyprus, Slovenia and the Netherlands.

At least eight of those personnel were reportedly ordered to immediately depart from those foreign nations due to apparent fears they could be arrested or questioned, after human rights organisations and pro-Palestinian groups filed complaints against them over their war crimes in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The cases filed against Israeli leaders and military personnel number in the dozens, with a notable organisation involved in the legal work being the Hind Rajab Foundation – named after the five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza back in January this year – which filed a landmark challenge targeting 1,000 Israeli soldiers.

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According to the Turkish news outlet, Anadolu Agency, the Foundation’s lawyer, Haroon Raza, told it that the “case includes all types of charges of war crimes specified in the Rome Statute”, explaining that the list includes “the crime of starvation, the crime of attacking civilians, crime of attacking civilian objects, et cetera.”

The case is also reportedly supported by a mass of evidence, with the Foundation’s website stating that “over 8,000 pieces of verifiable evidence – including videos, audio recordings, forensic reports and social media documentation – demonstrates the soldiers’ direct involvement in these atrocities”.

The statement added that all of the soldiers named and identified – largely through their own social media presence and boasts of their exploits – “were located in Gaza during the genocidal assault, and the evidence reveals their participation in violations of international law.”

While the Israeli military does not bar soldiers en masse from travelling abroad as a general policy, it reportedly actively takes a “risk assessment” for troops who served in Gaza before approving their request.

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