The Hind Rajab Foundation has officially filed a criminal complaint with British authorities against Lidor Dafna, an Israeli reservist currently believed to be visiting the United Kingdom. The legal challenge stems from allegations of war crimes committed during his military service in Gaza. Dafna, who served within the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion, is specifically accused of participating in the destruction of a flour-producing facility in May 2025. This action occurred while the ongoing Israeli blockade of Gaza had already pushed the region toward widespread starvation. “If the authorities let him leave, he [Dafna] will go back and commit more crimes. According to he later, His Canadian visa had been revoked. In January 2025, Brazilian authorities issued an urgent order to arrest and investigate an Israeli soldier accused of planting explosives and systematically demolishing entire civilian neighbourhoods in Gaza.
The foundation’s case relies on footage allegedly posted by Dafna himself on various social media platforms. The clips reportedly depict an Israeli military bulldozer demolishing wheat silos located in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The Brussels-based organization behind the complaint is named after Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl who, along with several relatives, was killed when Israeli forces opened fire on their vehicle in Gaza City in January 2024.
By leveraging self-published digital content as a basis for formal criminal complaints, the foundation is testing the efficacy of international legal systems in holding Israeli soldiers accountable.
Natacha Bracq, the foundation’s head of litigation, emphasized the necessity of this action, noting that allowing a suspect to leave the country would effectively permit the continuation of alleged criminal activities.
Bracq argued that permitting a known suspect to pass through a national border, while being in possession of documented evidence, constitutes a violation of a host nation’s international legal obligations. Knowing what is documented, it is breaching its obligations to prevent and punish genocide.”, when a state waves a suspect through its airport. Distinguishing between national courts and the ICC, al-Shouli clarified the legal architecture supporting these moves.
In response to inquiries regarding the case, representatives for the UK’s Metropolitan Police have yet to provide a comment. For the families of those killed in Gaza, the pursuit of justice through international channels is viewed as a necessary, if difficult, alternative to internal Israeli military accountability mechanisms, which many perceive as deeply flawed.
Speaking from Gaza, the 45-year-old grandmother of Hind Rajab expressed skepticism regarding the willingness of the Israeli military to investigate its own personnel. She characterized such internal proceedings as mere justifications presented to the international community, asserting that, in practice, no genuine accountability occurs on the ground. She further stressed that her support for the foundation’s efforts is rooted in the belief that those who speak for the rights of children, particularly Palestinian children, must be heard, noting that Hind’s story represents a pattern of widespread suffering. Hind means surely there are many crimes like hers and more,” her grandmother added. “We support anyone who speaks in the name of childhood [and always supports] the Palestinian child.”.
The foundation’s methodology for building these cases involves the systematic collection of open-source digital evidence. According to Bracq, soldiers have uploaded tens of thousands of images and videos from conflict zones on platforms like TikTok, X, Instagram, and Telegram, often with their identities clearly visible. The group subjects this content to rigorous verification procedures, including geolocation against satellite imagery and cross-referencing with building data, destruction patterns, and military communications. This digital footprint requires rigorous processing to become potentially admissible in legal cases. Then the real work starts: verification. “These are ruptures in a system of impunity: the moment Israelis calculate that travelling abroad carries a real legal risk,” Bracq emphasised.
This analytical process adheres to the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations. International human rights lawyer Khaled al-Shouli, who represents Palestinian victims before the International Criminal Court, noted that while social media footage is valuable, the key legal hurdle remains linking that evidence to the specific responsibility of an individual. He stressed that a soldier’s mere appearance in a video does not automatically equate to criminal liability, requiring detailed verification of time, location, and intent. Developed by the Human Rights Center at the University of California in Berkeley and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, sets out standards for collecting, verifying, analysing and preserving digital material, the Berkeley Protocol. “Its value does not decrease simply because it is a post on the internet, nor does it become decisive simply because it has spread,” al-Shouli said. “The crucial difference is the transition from proving the occurrence of the crime to proving the responsibility of a specific person for it as the appearance of a soldier in a place does not alone prove his commission o. He stressed, however, that answering fundamental questions about the source, time and place is essential. “The Palestinian case relies on a set of matters that fall under the category of territorial jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Palestinian territories and not on absolute universal jurisdiction,” he noted. “This distinction is important because the multiplicity of paths expands the opportunities for accountability and does not leave it hostage to one institution.”. “My professional responsibility begins with not selling false hopes and fake hopes to the victims. It is not permissible for me to tell a family that lost its children that depositing a file has restored its right,” al-S.
The foundation’s strategy is already producing tangible results internationally. In Belgium, a similar complaint led federal police to detain and interrogate two Israeli soldiers. Although they were later released, Bracq noted that the incident sent a clear message that universal jurisdiction is a functional tool capable of compelling suspects to report to police stations. Similar legal pressures have also disrupted travel for other personnel, including former soldier Guy Hochman, who was detained in Canada.
While acknowledging that political will often dictates whether international warrants are executed, Bracq highlighted that international crimes are not subject to a statute of limitations. The group intends to maintain its long-term documentation efforts, ensuring that evidence remains preserved for future opportunities. Al-Shouli noted that while government transitions can create practical windows for improved judicial cooperation, the objective remains the activation of legal processes rather than relying on loopholes. Political climates heavily influence these legal instruments. She noted that relentless documentation ensures “no future window of opportunity finds the evidence missing.”.
The foundation has signaled that its scope is expanding beyond front-line soldiers to include individuals and entities involved in the supply chain of military assets. Bracq cited a recent criminal complaint in Poland against a state-owned TNT manufacturer, reinforcing the group’s stance that accountability should extend from the soldier on the ground to high-level decision-makers and weapons suppliers. Ultimately, al-Shouli emphasized that his professional duty involves managing the expectations of victim families, focusing on concrete legal steps rather than offering false reassurances. “The occupation [Israel] claims that it opens criminal justice or an investigation for their soldiers, [but] we are certainly not very interested in this topic,” she stated. “They just justify their positions to the world, … but actually on the ground, I don’t think anything happens.”.
