Hind Rajab Foundation pursues “Israeli” soldiers at Belgium music festival

The Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), in collaboration with the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), has filed urgent legal complaints with the Belgian Federal Prosecutor, demanding the immediate arrest and prosecution of two “Israeli” soldiers attending the Tomorrowland music festival.

The foundation says these individuals are implicated in grave international crimes, including war crimes and genocide, committed during “Israel's” ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip, leveraging Belgium's universal jurisdiction laws.

The HRF's action was prompted by the alleged presence of young “Israeli” soldiers at Tomorrowland waving the flag of the “Israeli” Givati Brigade, a unit the HRF says is "extensively documented for its role in the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza and for carrying out mass atrocities against the Palestinian population".

The foundation asserts that the Givati flag has become a "symbol of impunity, destruction, and ethnic cleansing".

The individuals are accused of direct involvement in crimes such as indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, use of torture and human shields, mass arbitrary detention, forced displacement, and deliberate infliction of conditions calculated to destroy the Palestinian population.

The Hind Rajab Foundation, established in September 2024 and named after a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza, aims to challenge “Israeli” impunity for alleged war crimes.

Co-founded by Dyab Abou Jahjah, the HRF employs open-source intelligence (OSINT) to monitor social media posts by “Israeli” soldiers for evidence of criminal activity, then files cases when subjects enter countries with universal jurisdiction.

This strategy has led to reported instances of “Israeli” soldiers fleeing countries like Brazil and Argentina to evade arrest, and an “Israeli” cabinet minister canceling a visit to Belgium due to arrest risks.

The “Israeli” Foreign Ministry is aware of 28 such claims in eight countries, many attributed to HRF.

While “Israeli” officials publicly downplay the threat, the military has implemented new rules to protect troops' privacy and warned against social media posts that could lead to legal action abroad.

The HRF emphasizes that Belgium is "legally required to prosecute or extradite genocide suspects" found on its soil.