As part of the confrontation with the decision of the court in The Hague, five soldiers and reserve officers who left the fighting in Gaza were sent to serve in international advocacy, as part of a delegation of the advocacy organization Diploact. Only yesterday (Saturday) it became clear that a war crimes complaint was filed against them in The Hague and a request for an investigation in the Dutch justice system.
Those soldiers and officers, who were recruited in the first days after the October 7 attack and are expected to return to the reserves soon, gave a series of interviews to the international media on Friday outside the court in The Hague and participated in a demonstration of support for Israel held in the city. Their names and ranks were revealed and published.
The fighters against whom a complaint was filed in The Hague
Pro-Palestinian officials searched social media for information about the five fighters and found a post uploaded by one of them, in which he was photographed in a destroyed building in the Gaza Strip and wrote the following language: “We will erase the memory of the Amalekites under the sky, and we will not forget.” The post was translated into Dutch and distributed. Also, similar things were attributed to Prime Minister Netanyahu in the indictment in The Hague.
A Dutch pro-Palestinian organization hastened to file a complaint against them for “involvement in genocide” in Gaza, which includes a request for an investigation. The request was submitted to a prosecution in the Netherlands under universal jurisdiction that allows any country to investigate on its territory regardless of affiliation, when the most serious crimes are involved.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague Photo: Reuters
The information about the filing of the complaint reached Israeli officials on Saturday evening and the state representatives contacted the Diplomat-Act delegation and the five reservists and they were given a recommendation to “lower their profile”. This morning they flew from Amsterdam to Israel and landed in Israel after midnight.
The event reveals another legal front, which the State of Israel will have to answer for, especially for fighters who will go on informational missions around the world in the future. Amit Dari, chairman of the advocacy organization Diploma-Act, said that “the activists of the program have come to make the voice of the IDF fighters heard in The Hague. No threat will deter us from continuing and doing so in the future as well.”
Protests outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague Photo: reuters
The response of the IDF spokesman: “On Saturday, a report was circulated on social media according to which a private organization filed a complaint in the Netherlands against four reservists who were in the country outside of their military duties. Following this, and in accordance with procedures, state representatives held a conversation with the four people in which they knew about the report regarding the filing of the complaint, and were given instructions on how to proceed standard in cases of this type. The four people returned on a pre-planned flight. They were not told to advance their flight.”
The response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “The Israeli Embassy in The Hague updated the group on the complaint that was filed as well as the low probability of arrest. There was no recommendation to advance their return to Israel.”
Did you find a language mistake?