Lawyers launch a legal campaign against Argentina and Chile to arrest an Israeli soldier News of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

An advocacy group has taken legal action in Argentina and Chile, urging the two countries to arrest an Israeli soldier for war crimes in Gaza.

The cases in Argentina and Chile, which were announced on Thursday, point to national and international legal obligations. These measures come as part of a broader effort by the Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation to pressure countries around the world to seek more comprehensive justice for violations committed in the Palestinian sector.

The cases target Israeli soldier Saar Hirschoren over what the Hind Rajab Foundation described as his role in the 749th Combat Engineer Battalion, whose chief, Diab Abu Jahjah, described as “systematically involved in the destruction of civilian infrastructure” in Gaza.

At the same time, the organization filed a complaint against the entire battalion with the International Criminal Court on charges of “committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.”

Local prosecutors working with the group filed a criminal complaint in Argentina on December 24 and in Chile the next day, demanding Hirschorn’s arrest. The foundation said Hirschorn was initially in Argentina when the first case was filed, before leaving for Chile.

Prosecutors cited “video evidence from Hirschhorn’s Instagram account, showing his active participation in the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza” as well as his “role in the deliberate destruction of neighborhoods, cultural sites and basic facilities” in violation of international law.

Abu Jahjah told Al Jazeera that it was not immediately clear whether Hirschorn holds dual citizenship from any country other than Israel, and his recent whereabouts remain unknown.

“I call on Argentina and Chile to shoulder their responsibility as democratic countries with the rule of law to arrest Mr. Hirschoren,” he said.

Pressure for broader accountability

The latest legal action follows Amnesty International’s filing earlier this month That’s it That Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. UN human rights experts reached similar resolutions on the war, which began following a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Since then, 45,399 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and 107,940 others injured in Israeli operations, which have also destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure and caused a deadly humanitarian crisis.

The Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,139 people.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing “the war crime of starvation as a method of war; crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.”

Israel has rejected the arrest warrants and repeatedly stressed that its actions in Gaza are consistent with international law.

The International Criminal Court last month as well Issued An arrest warrant for Hamas military leader Muhammad Deif on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes during the October 7 attack on Israel. Israel said Al-Deif was killed in a raid in July.

But the Hind Rajab Foundation is named after the 6-year-old girl killing In the Israeli bombing as her family fled Gaza City earlier this year, other rights groups said accountability should extend beyond Israeli leadership.

The foundation has taken legal action against Israeli soldiers who are either citizens of — or temporary visitors to — Ecuador, the Netherlands, France and Cyprus, among other countries.

The group regularly focused on Israeli soldiers who posted abuses on social media. For example, Hirschorn posted a video of himself remotely detonating seven buildings near the Musab bin Omair Mosque in northern Nuseirat in October, according to an analysis of the posts by Drop Site News.

Proponents claim that states parties to international human rights treaties – including the founding document of the International Criminal Court, the Rome Statute, as well as the Geneva Convention – have a responsibility to enforce international law.

In October, the group filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court naming 1,000 Israeli soldiers it accused of violations, including 12 dual citizens from France, 12 from the United States, four from Canada, three from the United Kingdom, and two from the Netherlands.

Abu Jahjah said that with the ICC taking long-overdue action, his group hopes to correct “shortcomings” at the nation-state level.

It may be a long shot. None of the countries where the group has taken action has sought asylum for the identified soldiers. Neither Chile nor Argentina responded to the latest call.

However, Abu Jahjah said he hopes the message resonates.

Abu Jahjah said: “You cannot let criminals come and spend their vacation in your country as if nothing had happened.”

He added: “You cannot abandon your responsibilities towards the agreements you signed, and the principles of justice that all these countries embodied in their constitutions.”