UK war crimes complaint targets reservist over Gaza silo demolition

The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a criminal complaint in the United Kingdom against an Israeli reservist currently believed to be in the country. The complaint seeks to prosecute Lidor Dafna for alleged war crimes committed during the conflict in Gaza.

Dafna served in the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion. The foundation accuses him of participating in the May 2025 demolition of a flour-producing facility. This destruction occurred while Israel maintained a blockade that the foundation says caused widespread starvation in the region. The group relies on footage posted by Dafna on social media, which shows an Israeli military bulldozer tearing down wheat silos in southern Gaza.

The organization is named after Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl killed in January 2024 when Israeli forces fired on her family’s vehicle in Gaza City. Her grandmother, who shares the girl's name, spoke from Gaza about the need for external accountability. She stated that families are not interested in Israel's internal investigations because they often only serve to justify positions to the world. She added that she does not believe anything actually happens on the ground as a result.

Natacha Bracq, the foundation's head of litigation, described the filing as urgent. She warned that if authorities allow Dafna to leave, he will return and commit more crimes. The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment but had not responded as of the time of reporting.

The foundation constructs its cases primarily using digital material published by Israeli soldiers. Bracq noted that soldiers have posted tens of thousands of photos and videos from Gaza and Lebanon on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, X, and Telegram. These posts often reveal the soldiers' faces and names. Investigators follow the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations to collect, verify, and preserve this evidence. They geolocate each frame against satellite imagery and cross-reference military sources to link specific suspects to documented acts.

Khaled al-Shouli, an international lawyer who represents Palestinian victims before the International Criminal Court, said such digital material can be valuable evidence. However, he cautioned that it must be tested regarding its source, time, and place. He noted that a soldier's mere appearance at a location does not automatically prove that person committed a crime.

The foundation points to previous actions taken by foreign governments as evidence of the approach's potential. In Belgium, federal police detained and questioned two Israeli soldiers who were later released. The federal prosecutor subsequently referred that case to the International Criminal Court. In Canada, former combat soldier Guy Hochman was held and questioned for six hours at Toronto Pearson Airport following a complaint alleging war crimes and incitement to genocide. Hochman later said his Canadian visa was revoked.

Limits of this strategy appeared in Brazil in January 2025. Authorities there ordered the arrest of an Israeli soldier accused of planting explosives and demolishing civilian neighborhoods in Gaza. Israeli authorities helped the soldier leave the country before he could be detained. Al-Shouli described this incident as illustrating the gap between opening an investigation and securing a suspect's attendance. Bracq acknowledged that political will determines whether a warrant is executed, but noted that international crimes carry no statute of limitations.

The group is expanding its focus to companies that supply weapons to Israel. A recent criminal complaint in Poland targets a state-owned TNT producer. Bracq stated that universal jurisdiction is the instrument the group uses, not its final goal. She defined the group's objective as justice and accountability.