Rights group files complaint in Vietnam against Israeli soldier over war crimes in Gaza, Lebanon

A rights group has lodged a criminal complaint in Vietnam against a member of the Israeli occupation force over war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

The Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) filed the complaint with Vietnamese authorities against Israeli reservist Matan Jerafi for war crimes, genocide and incitement to genocide during the Israeli regime's genocidal wars in the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon.

Jerafi participated in the destruction of civilian property in Gaza and southern Lebanon and publicly advocated for the displacement of the Palestinians from the land.

The HRF said in a statement that Jerafi, who is the CEO of the Israeli organization Im Tirtzu, “documented his deployment to Gaza and to southern Lebanon and his direct involvement in the unlawful destruction of civilian property.”

Im Tirtzu is an extremist Israeli organization advocating Zionism.

The complaint cites footage gathered by Jerafi for his organization revealing his participation in the destruction of civilian infrastructure in the Bureij and Maghazi refugee camps in central Gaza and in the Shujaiya and Rimal neighborhoods of Gaza City between December 2023 and January 2024.

The HRF said Jerafi was then deployed to southern Lebanon between October and November 2024, “where he continued to destroy civilian infrastructure.”

Jerafi’s acts “constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 85(3)(a) of Additional Protocol I and Articles 8(2)(a)(iv), 8(2)(b)(ii) and 8(2)(b)(v) of the Rome Statute, as well as acts of genocide under Article II(3) of the Genocide Convention and Article 6(c) of the Rome Statute,” the complaint states.

In addition, the HRF said in the complaint that Jerafi directly and publicly incited others to commit genocide.

It said Jerafi advocated the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, justified attacks on civilians, opposed the entry of direly needed humanitarian aid, and promoted material advocating for a “new Nakba,” or mass displacement.

“We must not have mercy on them,” the HRF quoted Jerafi as saying on Feb. 1, 2024.

His behaviors “amount to direct and public incitement to genocide under Article III(c) of the Genocide Convention and Article 25(3)(e) of the Rome Statute,” the HRF stated in the complaint.

The HRF called on Vietnamese authorities to issue an arrest warrant for Jerafi to investigate him on the charges in the complaint.

Vietnam, a signatory to the Geneva Conventions and the Genocide Convention, “has a duty to investigate and prosecute individuals present on its territory who are suspected of committing grave international crimes, regardless of where those crimes occurred or the nationality of the perpetrator,” it said.

Similar complaints against Israeli troops have been made in other countries and courts of law.

Hind Rajab Foundation files war crimes complaint in US against Israeli-American trooper

The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) legal advocacy group files a complaint in a United States court seeking a criminal investigation into an Israeli-American trooper’s war crimes.

The HRF is a human rights advocacy group named after Hind Rajab, a Palestinian girl who was killed by Israeli forces southwest of Gaza City on Jan. 29, 2024.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir