The Hind Rajab Foundation announced that it has submitted an urgent criminal complaint to Belgium's Federal Prosecutor against a member of the Israeli armed forces who was identified attending the annual Tomorrowland electronic music festival in Boom, Belgium. According to the legal advocacy group, the complaint concerns serious war crimes and violations of international law allegedly committed during Israeli military operations across the Gaza Strip between 2023 and 2024. The foundation stated that the suspect is believed to still be on Belgian territory and urged judicial authorities to implement immediate preventive measures to prevent the individual from leaving the country while a comprehensive evaluation of the legal claims takes place.
In its official filing, the advocacy group requested that the federal prosecutor refer the matter without delay to an examining judge to authorize necessary investigative and preventive steps, including the potential seizure of travel documents and electronic devices. The foundation bases its submission on Article 14/10 of the Belgian Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides a clear legal foundation for Belgian judicial bodies to investigate serious international crimes committed abroad when a suspect is physically present within Belgium. This statutory framework grants national courts extraterritorial jurisdiction over alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international humanitarian law under global treaties such as the Rome Statute and the Geneva Conventions.
According to evidentiary dossiers compiled by the Hind Rajab Foundation, information indicates that the suspect served in an active-duty Israeli military unit deployed across major combat zones in Gaza City and Rafah between October 2023 and November 2024. The complaint focuses in part on specific military actions, including the widespread destruction of Palestine Square and surrounding structures in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City in December 2023. The organization alleges that essential civilian infrastructure, including residential apartment complexes, commercial properties, public administrative offices, and educational institutions such as the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children, were systematically demolished using heavy armored vehicles, military bulldozers, and controlled demolition charges. The foundation argues that these demolitions were executed without military necessity, constituting unlawful destruction under international law.
This latest complaint represents a continuation of the advocacy group's legal strategy targeting military personnel attending the Tomorrowland festival. In July 2025, the Hind Rajab Foundation, working in coordination with the Global Legal Action Network, filed a similar urgent complaint in Belgium against two Israeli soldiers identified at the festival grounds in Boom after individuals were documented waving flags associated with the Givati Brigade. During that incident, Belgian federal police located, detained, and interrogated the two individuals regarding their military service and actions in Gaza before subsequently releasing them. The federal prosecutor's office later referred aspects of the case to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The foundation points to that prior action as proof that Belgian authorities have the procedural tools and jurisdiction required to act swiftly when suspects enter the country.
The broader context surrounding these legal actions stems from two years of intensive military operations in Gaza prior to a ceasefire established in October 2025. Over that two-year span, military engagements resulted in approximately 73,000 deaths and caused extensive destruction to roughly 90 percent of Gaza's civilian infrastructure. Although a formal truce was enacted, advocacy groups report ongoing violations of the agreement, leading human rights organizations to maintain international monitoring of military personnel traveling abroad. Leadership at the Hind Rajab Foundation emphasized that every military member bears individual criminal responsibility for war crimes, regardless of rank or operational command. The foundation maintains that signatory states to the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention have a legal duty to investigate and prosecute individuals accused of grave breaches of international law whenever they enter European territory. The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office is currently assessing the submitted evidence to decide whether to initiate formal judicial proceedings.
