Ssolicited by The eveningthe federal prosecutor’s office confirms to us “that after an initial examination of the elements in its possession”, it “decided to open a judicial information file” concerning the actions of a Belgian national in Gaza and potential “crimes of war.” And this in the direct wake of media revelations that occurred at the beginning of October.
Last week, the Morning highlighted the involvement of AB, a Belgian-Israeli aged around twenty and originally from Uccle, in an Israeli army unit made up of snipers, very active in the gang of Gaza since the outbreak of the conflict.
The article from Morning is based in particular on revelations by Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi, specialized in open source investigation and contributor to the investigative journalism platform Bellingcat. In a 38-minute video that the latter made public at the beginning of October, the journalist tracks the actions of this sniper unit which calls itself “Refaim”, in other words “ghost”, in Hebrew. The journalist attributes several fatal shootings targeting unarmed individuals to this, which were filmed and broadcast on the internet by Israeli soldiers.
AB, whose identity is broadcast in this report, is visible in several photos of the members of this unit, although his personal actions are not the subject of in-depth treatment in Younis Tirawi’s video. If he does not appear shooting in this video, the Morning however managed to find a photo of the latter handling a sniper rifle, in military uniform.
A “death squad”
In the context of his investigation, Younis Tirawi also managed to directly interview a member of this unit, originally from the United States. The latter, revealing a radical perception about the Palestinians – for example comparing Gaza to Sodom, a city which according to the Old Testament was the victim of divine anger and ended up destroyed in the flames –, also turns out to be very loquacious on the instructions given to snipers.
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In this case, it is a question of shooting on sight at any man “of age to carry a weapon” circulating in specific areas. He also mentions the fact that anyone searching or attempting to dispose of the body of a targeted person may also be targeted. He also specifies that shooters can sometimes fire more than 1,200 meters from their target. The Palestinian journalist concludes that this unit behaves like a “death squad” and questions its responsibility in shootings which targeted several civilians – including caregivers active in the same sector at the start of this year.
The father of this Belgian-Israeli soldier, whom we tried to contact, did not respond to our requests at this stage.
Minister Van Tigchelt confirms
Questioned this Thursday in the House by MP Ecolo Rajae Maouane, Minister of Justice Paul van Tigchelt (Open VLD) confirmed the opening of an investigation by the federal prosecutor’s office. While remembering that the person targeted by this investigation, who has dual nationality, has no longer resided in Belgium since 2022.
“Israel has the right to self-defense, but that in no way exempts it from the obligation to respect international humanitarian law,” he declared, before recalling that this did not prevent Belgium from play its role in investigating offenses and crimes. “If there is evidence of war crimes committed by this person, he or she could be prosecuted in Belgium via the federal prosecutor’s office, or before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. »
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