Zein Khalil
05 January 2025•Update: 05 January 2025
JERUSALEM
An Israeli soldier accused of committing war crimes during the Gaza war has fled Brazil where authorities were pressing for an investigation, local media said on Sunday.
The investigation stems from a complaint filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a Belgium-based group advocating for justice for Palestinian victims, Israeli public broadcaster KAN said.
According to Israeli Channel 12, the complaint includes over 500 pages of evidence, including videos, geolocation data, and open-source intelligence, linking the soldier to destruction in Gaza.
Despite a court order, the soldier, a reservist who was in Brazil as a tourist, managed to leave the country and is reportedly en route back to Israel, KAN said. Details of how he evaded arrest remain unclear.
In a statement, HRF condemned the soldier’s escape, accusing Israel of orchestrating his departure to obstruct justice.
The organization said it has “verified information that Israel is imminently attempting to smuggle suspected Israeli war criminal Yuval Vagdani out of Brazil, because of a Brazilian court order for police to take investigative measures against him.”
“There are also indications that evidence is being destroyed,” it stressed. “This is not only a scandal but an affront to Brazil’s sovereignty and rule of law. Israel has employed similar tactics before.”
The organization called on Brazilian authorities “to fulfill their responsibilities, protect their judicial process, and ensure justice prevails.”
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, said legal actions against Israelis suspected of crimes in Gaza “are necessary and overdue.”
“Apartheid Israel will go to great lengths to shield its soldiers since a conviction abroad for crimes against Palestinians is a precedent it cannot afford,” she said in a statement, emphasizing that “justice is unstoppable.”
Political failure
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, describing the situation as a political failure.
“How have we reached a point where Palestinians outmaneuver the Israeli government on the international stage?” he wrote on X.
The escape follows a series of similar incidents involving Israeli soldiers abroad. Last month, a Palestinian advocacy group in Sri Lanka called for the arrest of an active-duty Israeli soldier spotted in the country, prompting his immediate evacuation by Israeli authorities, according to Israel’s Channel 12.
The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 45,700 victims, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi
