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ما خفي أعظم.. الملاحَقون | AlJazeera Arabic قناة الجزيرة | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: ما خفي أعظم.. الملاحَقون
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Video Summary
Summary
Core Theme
This investigation, "The Tip of the Iceberg," reveals for the first time the specific Israeli officers and soldiers involved in war crimes and genocide in Gaza, particularly focusing on the case of the child Hind Rajab, and highlights the growing legal efforts to hold them accountable internationally.
This is the first time it has been revealed
What are we waiting for next?
The Tip of the Iceberg
The Pursued
Here, from the Belgian capital, Brussels
an organization was launched
bearing the name of the Palestinian martyr
The child Hind Rajab
The organization’s name spread around the world
and the legal pursuits it initiated became a nightmare
haunting the leaders, officers, and soldiers of the Israeli occupation army
involved in war crimes and genocide in Gaza
These prosecutions opened battles
that were not confined to courtrooms
but extended to other arenas
filled with threats
and targeting.
An Israeli genocidal war in Gaza
left tens of thousands of victims
and vast areas leveled to the ground.
Hundreds of massacres and horrific crimes
some of which were recorded in broad daylight.
Two years of genocidal war
during which Israeli soldiers
posted and documented their acts in Gaza
boasting on social media.
That opened the door to a pressing question
about the possibility to hold the criminals accountable
and bring them to international justice
In this investigation
we spent months tracking
the accounts and files of Israeli soldiers and officers
accused of committing war crimes in Gaza
relying on open sources
and exclusive leaks
We were able to identify the names of those involved in various military units
within the Israeli occupation army
The most important case that we began our investigation with
was that of a martyr whose story shook the world
Hind Rajab
A six-year-old child
who was killed by Israeli fire along with her family
and those who tried to rescue them.
In those harrowing moments
the world was watching and hearing her final cries for help
Please..
Come take me...
The tank is beside me...
Stay with me...
Stay with me, please...
(Sound of crying)
The Tip of the Iceberg
reveals in this investigation for the first time
the officers involved in the case of the martyr Hind Rajab
Among them, the field officer on the ground
who gave the order to kill
along with the soldiers of the unit involved in the crime.
This is how it will be, and victory will be ours.
On January 29, 2024
Hind was with her family in a car
trying to flee from the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood
in the southwestern part of Gaza City
Following the Israeli army's orders to the residents of the area to evacuate southward
The car came under heavy gunfire
heard during the distress call
made by Hind’s cousin to the Palestinian Red Crescent
whose team tried to intervene and help
I’m in the car, and the tank is beside us.
Are you inside the car?
(Sound of screaming and gunfire)
Hello?
Hind continued the call after everyone with her had been martyred
– They’re dead. – Dead?
– Yes. – And they’re with you in the car now?
The tank is beside me.
– Where is the tank? – Beside me.
Twelve days later
Hind was found dead
along with six of her family members inside the car
Near them was the ambulance
that had responded to the call
whose crew was martyred in the attack.
The official Israeli response was an outright denial
of the presence of its forces in that area
But according to the evidence and analysis we obtained
based on maps, images, and phone calls
made from the crime scene
the source of the shots was identified precisely.
Among the parties that analyzed this evidence
was the Forensic Architecture team
at Goldsmiths University in London.
We met Nicholas Masterton
one of those handling the case
to reconstruct the crime scene
As we understood, Nick, you relied on satellite images
on eyewitness accounts from the ground
and on the recordings that surfaced in this crime
the killing of the child Hind Rajab and her family.
How did this investigation proceed?
And what were its main findings?
It was a site where there was not much visual evidence
of the incident until after it has transpired.
As with many of our cases
we use satellite imagery
and this case was no exception.
And we were, in this case, also
able to use audio recordings
that were captured by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
And what was very interesting about this case
was the way that those two things
The spatial mapping that came from the satellite imagery
and the audio recordings came together
to give us an insight
into what occurred on that day.
Could you update us on the course of this investigation in practical terms?
Yeah. The time in that area
there was evidence of vehicles
consistent with the Makava tank
dotted around the north of the site
These tanks were kind of moving into this area
And so this was a very heavily occupied part of the city.
And what we see is that the Kia Picanto
in which Hind and her family are riding
It stops by the side of the road
at a certain point
And afterwards, we see that this vehicle has moved at some point
So something has happened in between
So, we checked the car, the vehicle that the family was traveling in.
On the car, on the surface
we can see these bullet holes
And we go around the whole vehicle
and we identify all of these bullet holes
And in total, we find that there are about 335 holes on the vehicle.
Three hundred?
Three hundred and thirty-five (335)
Returning to satellite imagery
you pinpointed the location of the car where
the child Hind Rajab and her family were
What about the occupation forces?
The Israeli tanks and vehicles from which the shots were fired
toward Hind Rajab and her family's car
This is one of the key challenges of the investigation
because we don't see the tank in this radius
at the time of the shooting
we see the tanks collecting towards the north of the site before the incident
and we see tanks in the area around that time
but at the moment of the shooting
there's no satellite imagery
at that specific time
There's only before and after
We did, however, have an audio recording
that was captured by the Palestinian Red Crescent
which was a phone call from Lyann Hind's cousin
in which the in 28 seconds
we hear all of these bullets
and we worked in collaboration with Earshot
We worked with them
to analyze the audio signature of these gunshots
With the analysis of these gunshots
they were able to determine
that the distance in time
between the muzzle blast
and the hypersonic pressure wave of the bullet
was between 13 and 23 meters
away from the location of the vehicle where Hind was
- From the same side - Yeah from the Israeli side
The Israeli occupation army
advanced its narrative in this case by saying that
Hind Rajab and her family were in an area of clashes or an exchange of fire
with armed Palestinian fighters and resisters
By looking into your investigation
and specifically relying on the audio recording
Did you detect any evidence that there was any clash
or exchange of fire of any kind?
Based on our evidence
we don't see evidence of an exchange of fire taking place between parties
We see a civilian vehicle which is parked on the side of the road
and we hear the rapid gunshot
from a weapon that fires at a high rate
between 750 and 900 rounds per second
We don't hear it, we don't hear an exchange of fire at this time
The analysis of satellite imagery
revealed the deployment of Merkava tanks
the backbone of Israel’s armored corps
in the scene of the incident
Forensic analysis also dismantled the “clash” narrative
and turned the crime scene into damning evidence
of an armored unit’s involvement in targeting civilians in Gaza.
The initial indicators led us
to the 401 Armored Brigade of the Israeli army
which, at the time of Hind Rajab’s killing
was commanded by officer Beni Aharon
who was operating in Gaza City during that period.
The case of the child, Hind
moved many activists and specialists worldwide
to show solidarity and bring her voice to international courts.
An organization bearing the martyr’s name emerged
the Hind Rajab Foundation
which filed legal actions pursuing Israeli soldiers and officers
involved in war crimes
and devoted to that end
a team of legal experts and researchers in different countries around the world.
Here in Brussels, we met Dyab Abou Jahjah
the organization’s executive director
that prepared the legal case file for Hind, the child
and submitted it to the International Criminal Court
and filed a lawsuit against Officer Beni Aharon.
For a long time now
we have known that the 401 Brigade was responsible
for killing the martyr Hind Rajab.
We specifically filed a lawsuit against the brigade commander at the time
Colonel Beni Aharon.
But of course, we want to go deeper than that
The prominence of Beni Aharon’s name was not enough
and did not answer all the questions
about those directly responsible for the horrific crime.
For months we continued investigating satellite imagery
and leaked video clips
as well as exclusive information and data
that we accessed
all connected to the case of Hind Rajab.
This enabled us to arrive at precise details
about the battalion and the company in the Israeli army
that were involved in the killing of Hind Rajab.
Mr. Dyab, it’s clear we are looking at a decisive resolution
of the case of the martyr Hind Rajab and her family
the crime you have worked on for a long time.
We had been working for some time
on identifying the battalion and the company
and even the specific tanks participating on the ground.
First, regarding the battalion:
the battalion responsible for the crime
or the massacre of Hind Rajab’s family, and Hind
is the 52 Armored Battalion
which is part of the 401 Armored Brigade.
And the commander of the 52 Battalion
is Colonel Daniel Ella
who is responsible for the crime at the field level.
The data we obtained reveal
that the 52 Battalion
commanded by Colonel Daniel Ella
is among the most active and most lethal Israeli military units in the field.
This battalion, known inside the Israeli army
as “Ha-Bok’im,”
meaning “the Breachers,”
was the first armored battalion
to enter the Gaza Strip at the start of the ground invasion.
With the launch of the ground offensive in October 2023
the battalion advanced along the Beit Hanoun axis toward Jabalia.
In November 2023
the battalion was among the forces
that stormed Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza City.
As operations expanded
the battalion later moved to the Al-Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City
then to the northern area of the Gaza Strip
where field reports documented
the destruction of Hamad Hospital at the start of 2024.
On March 18, 2024
the battalion led the raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City
in one of the most lethal attacks of the war
in which dozens were killed inside the hospital and in its vicinity.
This video that we obtained
documents a tank from the 52 Battalion
shelling a building on Mustafa Hafeth Street
near the Islamic University
and alongside Al-Aqsa University
during the same period in which the crime against Hind Rajab
her family, and the medics occurred.
The geographic coordinates of the tank’s location
prove it was positioned only about 380 meters
from Fares Gas Station
the point where the crime against Hind Rajab occurred.
This video, along with photos of soldiers of tanks' crews
from the time of the crime
enabled us to identify the company and its commander
who, on the ground
gave the order to fire on Hind Rajab and her family.
The company’s name is “Vampire Empire.”
- That’s its name? - That’s the official company name.
“Vampire Empire” in English
and it has no Hebrew name.
They call themselves beasts
vampires
and they truly are.
The company commander’s name is Shon Glass
This is the company commander.
He is a major
and the man believes he is an inspiring leader
a thinker
and…
he is the one who gave the order to open fire
he is responsible he is the killer
He is responsible for killing Hind Rajab
“Vampire Empire”
is the name of the company commanded by Officer Shon Glass
who, according to the information we obtained
gave the order from inside the tank on the ground
in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood to fire toward Hind Rajab’s family car
then to target the ambulance and its crew
and to tamper with the crime scene after the fact.
The company has only an English name, “Vampire Empire”
which also indicates that it is, in some sense
a multinational company, and indeed it is.
This company played a heinous role in the genocide in Gaza.
It participated in the assault on Al-Shifa Hospital
and in committing the massacre there
This company..
When Colonel Beni Aharon
used to speak in some interviews in Hebrew
He used to speak comfortably
thinking no one is watching
- The brigade commander? - Yes, indeed
He used to talk about this company and boast that it does not listen to orders
that it goes beyond even the orders issued by the battalion.
And that they do crazy things
which, of course, he presents as a positive thing and boasts about it
You mentioned, Mr. Dyab, that this company has an English name
which indicates that it is multinational
Correct. There is a large number of dual-nationality soldiers in the company
And this truly opens up avenues for legal action
at the countries' level. At the level of the home countries of these criminals.
One of the soldiers in the Vampire Empire company
who was at the scene of Hind Rajab’s killing
and whose name is revealed for the first time
is Itay Choukirkov who holds Argentine nationality
in addition to his Israeli citizenship.
We filed a lawsuit in Argentina against an Argentine citizen
who is also a soldier in this company, or part of the tank crew
his name is Itay Choukirkov, and he is currently in Argentina.
Of course, we have filed the case before the Argentine judiciary.
Is this the first time you announce this case?
This is also the first time we are announcing it
He was one of the tank crew of this company, during the operation?
Correct. He was with the company on the ground
at the moment the martyr Hind was killed.
Before the most recent ceasefire in Gaza
the Vampire Empire company
was at the forefront of Israeli armored battalions
that pushed into Gaza,
and took part in sweeping and destroying the city's neighborhoods.
This recording appeared of the company commander, Shon Glass
as he rallied his soldiers during the latest operation
“We proved this year that we change reality, we are reshaping it.
This is how it will be, and victory will be ours.”
This is the first time that, with evidence,
a list of the killers’ names responsible for this crime is revealed.
What comes next?
Now, this information goes to teams of lawyers in various countries
and work proceeds on preparing and filing the cases.
What we have reached so far
shows the chain of command from the brigade to the soldier in the field
that lay behind the crime against Hind Rajab and her family
and who tried to rescue them.
Dual nationality flips the equation
It is no longer just a minor detail in the soldiers’ files
but has become a legal loophole
used to open the doors of accountability.
Belgian lawyer Jan Fermon
explains to us how this factor
has changed the rules of the game in prosecuting soldiers.
A difference here with the Israeli attack on Gaza
is that many bi-nationals are participating in this genocide
which means people who have both Israeli and Belgian
or French
or German nationalities.
And of course when a national commits a crime abroad
then it does not apply to the principle of universal jurisdiction
with all its specific rules, procedural rules
It is the normal criminal law that is then working.
The local ones.
Yes, that's the local normal criminal law
that is, well, interfering
or that can be used.
And so that is why these cases are special.
But the dual-nationality loophole worries not only the soldiers
it also causes visible confusion inside Israel
which has begun to see the names of its officers and soldiers
on the radars of international prosecutions.
Yossi Melman, the Israeli security expert
explains the scope of these prosecutions and their repercussions in Israel.
The government of Israel does not like
these campaigns financed by organizations supporting the Palestinians.
Of course it worries from them
and this gives Israel a bad name
when some Israelis
especially military personnel
not everywhere in the world
but in some parts of the world, become wanted.
From the army’s perspective
the army is concerned about this, because it is worrying.
And I mean all the security services also the Shin Bet and the Mossad
When their men are abroad
they might be arrested, or there might be attempts to arrest them
So, of course, they take that into account
Shimon Zuckerman, from the Israeli Engineering Corps
a name we tracked during this investigation
Zuckerman was active on social media as a “war influencer,”
documenting the crimes he committed himself
That information was collected and analyzed
The visual evidence published by Zuckerman and his comrades
shows his presence in various areas of Khuza‘a, east of Khan Younis
from December 26, 2023
to January 3, 2024
celebrating the demolition of dozens of homes
But what he did not expect
was that the boastful clips he posted
would turn into forensic evidence taking him to courtrooms.
We worked with the Hind Rajab Foundation team
to track the legal developments in this file
over months during this investigation
the details of which are being revealed for the first time.
Mr. Dyab: Shimon Zuckerman
this file that was secret up to now
Can you brief us on its details?
Especially since we have pursued this file from the beginning.
The Shimon Zuckerman file
might be the strongest case in the Engineering Corps
- for several reasons.. - You’re placing big hopes on this file
We are placing big hopes on it.
Also, not merely symbolically, but practically speaking
this file is extremely central for several reasons:
Of course, Zuckerman, like all other soldiers
is the one who published this material.
He posted it at the beginning of the genocide
but he posted it in a context
criminalizing, you could say
Criminalizing in the judicial sense.
That is, he incriminates himself
not only himself, but the entire battalion
OK?
That is Battalion 8129 of the Engineering Corps.
It is the battalion that destroyed the village of Khuza‘a in Gaza.
- East of Khan Younis? - Yes.
In the south of Gaza Strip.
With the destruction of Khuza‘a by this battalion
in which Company C played a central role
which is part of this battalion specifically Shimon Zuckerman
It is a clearer part of the genocide, in terms of destruction, in Gaza
Because it was accompanied by exterminationist statements
that is, communications and talk
in no way concealed that the destruction was retaliatory
It had nothing to do with any military necessity
Along with the familiar racist rhetoric about Amalek
“wiping out Amalek,” and so on.
These statements came from officers in the battalion
and from participants.
On the other hand
what actually happened! I mean that Khuza‘a was erased entirely
The town of Khuza‘a
became the scene of one of the most violent military operations of the war.
In January 2024
the occupation army launched a large-scale operation in the town
beginning with a bombardment campaign followed by a ground incursion
that destroyed the town completely.
Visual evidence and satellite imagery
document the scale of the destruction
Homes leveled to the ground
burned agricultural lands
and urban areas that disappeared entirely.
The Engineering Corps, to which Shimon Zuckerman belongs
played a decisive role by using explosives
and planting charges inside homes and civilian targets.
These clips prove
Shimon Zuckerman’s presence in various areas of Khuza‘a
as he celebrates the demolition of dozens of homes.
But one photo in particular was striking
posted by Zuckerman on his account
showing two passports
an Israeli and a German passports.
And in another photo, Zuckerman holds his German passport
with travel tickets bearing his name.
International prosecutions spurred placing these cases
in the hands of legal experts
seeking to hold Israeli soldiers accountable before European courts.
I was able to meet Melanie Schweitzer
A former legal adviser to the German government
who brought the Zuckerman case to the German judiciary.
Could you tell us about the course of this case
and what specific charges he is being legally pursued under?
In Germany, and because he has a German citizenship
we filed a lawsuit against him
and relied on the Code of Crimes against International Law.
We accused him of the crime of genocide
which is in Section 6
And the crimes against humanity
for the destruction of civilian infrastructure and buildings
among other crimes.
And then we
added almost all the provisions that we have in this law.
Could you give us details about the evidence
on which you relied in this legal complaint against Zuckerman?
Yes, of course What is very special in this case of Zucerman
is that he is, maybe you can call him a genocide influencer
or war influencer.
He used to have a travel blog
These are some of the evidences that we presented
in front of the General Attorney.
The videos here, for example
you can see how they made basically a promotion video.
This is the suspect
and how they celebrated
and put into this social media event
basically how they exploded various buildings.
Is he an officer or a soldier— Zuckerman?
He is a soldier.
And he is part of a very notorious company
that other investigators have already also shown
how notoriously they have been destroying whole structures.
So here and here is also featured on the left.
And he has a fox tail and on his helmet.
So that makes him very easily identifiable
And here you can also see there
they have is a detonation of the building behind their smoking cigarettes
to have it kind of like an action movie scene
The Tip of the Iceberg team
tracked the operations of Brigade 8219
specifically Battalion 551.
What these clips reveal
is a series of systematic demolitions
carried out by the battalion
with the participation of the soldier Shimon Zuckerman
between November 20 and 23, 2023
The visual evidence documented
the demolition of entire residential towers
next to Al-Quds Hospital in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza.
And weeks later, between December 10 and 15
the demolition reached Al-Islah Mosque
and a neighboring building in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood.
After that, the same battalion moved to Khuza‘a, east of Khan Younis.
Between December 26, 2023
and January 3, 2024
the battalion bulldozed vast areas
and demolished buildings using explosives.
What Zuckerman and his comrades posted
turned into legal evidence
as a public confession to the crime.
Have you received any response from the German judicial authorities
after you submitted this complaint?
No, not yet
we are still waiting for a reply.
We are very confident there will be a response.
We had two other cases in Germany previously
in which the Hind Rajab Foundation filed a complaint
and a request for an arrest warrant.
Both cases were rejected.
But in this case the evidence is very strong
to the point that we firmly believe
an investigation must be opened
and if an investigation is not opened, and urgently as well
because the destruction and genocide are still ongoing
then we will also submit another complaint
against the investigative authority for failing to carry out its duty.
In our work, we start from open sources
and then we complement them with deeper, non-open sources
- The private ones. - Yes, private ones.
We use certain data sets and certain research techniques.
As we understood, there was also a research source
that assisted you on this file
is that information accurate?
The information is accurate, yes.
There are sources working on the file in a way
that goes beyond the realm of open data and open sources.
While I was interviewing Abou Jahjah
a call came in from one of his research sources regarding the Zuckerman case
We were allowed to film the discussion
and we were asked to alter the researcher’s voice to preserve confidentiality.
Hello, how are you?
Did you have the call with Milany today?
Yeah, I'm just translating some stuff right now.
Hoping to send as much material today.
Did you touch on other aspects
connected to the village of Khuza`a itself
like the context of the operation?
So, inside the Israeli army it's very difficult
We tried looking at it
and we couldn't find anything specific.
The whole formation that went into this area
is considered a reservist commando formation.
So, they're not the most elite units
but they are kind of the top
or in the top.
And he's definitely part of that
but I kind of ruled out the other units we looked at
and his possible affiliation to them.
About the mercenary activity
I mean, it's very clear he admits it.
He's not admitting
he's bragging about it on his social media account.
I would be very interested to learn what is his rank
possibly to talk to someone who knows
but that carries all these basics.
Goodbye, Goodbye.
Mr. Dyab, the accent is clear
Israeli English?
I don’t analyze accents.
Is this one of your primary sources in the Zuckerman case?
He is one of our important researchers
on the Zuckerman case and on other cases as well.
- We have a number of.. - It’s clear he has information and updates
Yes, he tells me he has new information on other topics
but…
not specifically related to Zuckerman.
But there are some points in the Zuckerman case we’re looking into
for example
his role in training some military forces outside the occupied Palestinian territory.
The Engineering Corps to which Shimon Zuckerman belongs
appears in many of the investigation files.
The Engineering Corps differs from most other arms of the army
as it permeates the entire structure of the army
every Israeli combat brigade
has an engineering battalion working alongside it.
Part of the Engineering Corps’ work is demolition and blasting
another part is bulldozers
another part, of course, is everything related to tunnels
everything related to infrastructure, and so on.
This corps may be
the central instrument in the genocide in Gaza.
And when I say this, I say it from a purely legal standpoint.
- The Israeli Engineering Corps? - Yes.
- In the large-scale demolition and destruction - One hundred percent.
Because when we speak about genocide, unlike war crimes
genocide is something central
it is systemic
- and methodical. - Yes, methodical.
Our research and investigation into the Israeli Engineering Corps
led us to uncover another case
linked to one of the corps’ members
Adi Carni
who took part in military operations in the Gaza Strip
between October 2023
and April 2024.
His social media accounts were monitored
from March 2024
and this monitoring continued
until January 5, 2025.
At that time, his accounts were still accessible
and he had posted a number of photos and videos
from Khan Younis and also from al-Shuja‘iya.
Adi Carni was revealed for the first time
on April 10, 2024
when he posted a clip from inside an armored personnel carrier
while destroying a mosque in Gaza.
He also appeared in other clips
pressing the detonation button.
Hurray! Adi Carni
In this photo
Adi Carni appears next to a revenge slogan
written in Hebrew on the wall of a house in Gaza.
On February 21, 2025
Carni posted a set of photos openly indicating
that he was in Brazil
enjoying Carnival during a tourist trip
to Latin America.
These photos led to a lawsuit being filed against him in Brazil
but he then left
suspiciously and mysteriously for Peru
where he was also pursued.
We contacted attorney Julio Arbizu
who is handling Adi Carni’s case in Peru.
Mr. Julio, could you tell us about Carni’s case file?
What kind of evidence has been submitted against Carni
and has it been legally recognized?
The evidence available against “Carni” is extensive
and includes photos taken at the scene of events
namely in the Gaza Strip, showing that he is a member of Israeli army battalions.
But not only that
there are also videos showing him
directly carrying out attacks on civilian targets
that is, outside the context of conventional war
which is a direct violation even of the laws of war
Because there are rules
governing the context of wars between states and beyond that
this person appears in the videos
that we submitted to the Public Prosecutor and included in the complaint
while destroying civilian targets
and not only that
but celebrating every act he performs
as was clear from the clips filmed by his comrades in combat.
In Adi Carni’s file
perhaps it’s better if I show you the picture
This picture, for example
you see Adi Carni planting charges
these explosive charges, in a civilian facility.
OK
- From a legal standpoint… - Did he post this on his account?
He posted it on his account.
But the legal significance of this photo
is that you can tell he is not in a combat situation
You see him smiling at the camera
at ease
there’s no combat state.
Why is this important? Because under the law of war
within a combat situation
you may target a civilian facility with fire
or even with artillery, or even by demolition.
As shown in the video,
not only did he plant the charge in a civilian building
he blew up the building and filmed the blast
and they shouted jeers, and triumph, and euphoria.
So, on the individual level, for Adi Carni specifically
these are all war crimes.
You prosecute the person for war crimes
but the war crimes he commits are part of genocide
you move from war crimes, juridically speaking
and arrive at genocide.
While we were preparing this investigation
in an unprecedented development
the Peruvian authorities
issued an order to proceed against the Israeli soldier Adi Carni
to open a formal investigation
into war crimes he committed during the Gaza offensive.
This step is a legal precedent
regarding Israeli soldiers abroad
and an opening to investigate the actions of the Engineering Corps.
A step that shows the principle of universal jurisdiction
has begun to shift from legal texts to actual procedures.
In general
there isn’t a very big impact
even if a country like Peru arrests someone
or issues an arrest warrant for someone
under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
First, there are very few countries in the world
that implement the principle of universal jurisdiction
very few countries.
Second
the government of Israel is not greatly affected by these matters.
As I said earlier, his family could be greatly affected
and he himself might be afraid.
Adi Carni, as we learned, before Peru, he was in Brazil, right?
Yes.
- You filed a case against him in Brazil? - Correct.
Why didn’t it move forward?
Brazil is known for the Yuval Vaghdani's case
where a Brazilian judge issued a warrant
to bring him in and question him.
The Israelis created a huge judicial mobilization in Brazil
Brazil is a country split vertically
between supporters of the left and the right.
Right-wing supporters, generally, are sympathetic to the Israelis
so there was a strong reaction against us
in a way, it pushed the cases
We didn’t just file the Carni case and the Vaghdani case; there are five others.
- In Brazil? - Yes
So there’s now a legal battle in Brazil behind the scenes.
Yuval Vaghdani
a soldier in the Givati Infantry Brigade
found himself at the center of international investigations in Brazil.
On December 26, 2024
his file was submitted to the Brazilian judiciary
after evidence was gathered from documented open sources.
Vaghdani posted photos and videos on his Facebook account
appearing smiling amid the destruction with his comrades.
This photo shows Vaghdani in front of explosive charges
used to blow up property and civilian infrastructure in Gaza
and in this photo, a proof of his departure from Brazilian territory
On January 4, 2025
and arrival in Argentina
despite the legal pursuit.
Of course, the Israelis smuggled him out of Brazil immediately
- With collusion, or…? - With collusion.
But, and I’m revealing this for the first time, he was questioned.
He was released after being interrogated, but the Brazilians gave them assurances
that after questioning, he would be freed.
There were some cases of people who were warned
like someone who was in Brazil, and they told him to move to Argentina
There was also a case in Cyprus
they warned someone, and he managed to catch a flight and return to Israel.
What Yossi Melman referred to about Cyprus
was among the files that were investigated.
Elisha Livman, from the Infantry Corps
was in Cyprus, specifically at the Royal Apollonia Hotel.
A case was filed against him for war crimes
and crimes against humanity
based on these clips.
Do you see all the destruction?
Do you see this?
This is how we destroy their houses
Tearing all of Rafah apart
So that we can come back to live here
And I build our own houses
After being questioned
Livman fled Cyprus on a private plane
via unofficial routes.
His departure in this manner raised many questions
Walking around in Israel with an international criminal
Celebrity!
An international celebrity Not a criminal, a celebrity
The Israelis created a state of panic
to the point of breaking the law
meaning they smuggled him out of Cyprus
- Not through the airport? - Not through the airport;
they smuggled him on a private plane
that landed at a British base
There are...
- In Cyprus? - In Cyprus.
The government of Israel does not want people
from the security services or soldiers of the IDF to be arrested
and if they are arrested, the government will make every effort to release them.
Israel tries, by all available legal and diplomatic means
to prevent arrest warrants from being issued
and if they are issued, to prevent their execution.
I met Judge Donald Peter Herbert
who has taken part in a number of international cases
including the case of the genocide in Rwanda.
In his testimony
the judge sheds light on the difficulties of prosecuting Israeli soldiers
in the face of political pressures that shackle justice.
Are there difficulties in prosecuting perpetrators
Israeli war criminals, whether soldiers or officers holding dual nationality?
Do they use these dual nationalities as a pretext to escape justice?
There are two things that states can do
to hold the Israeli officers accountable for the genocide
and the soldiers who are human rights criminals
or alleged to have committed them.
One, those states can investigate those crimes.
If they do so, they can issue arrest warrants.
Interpol throughout the whole of Europe
and many other signatory states
those arrest warrants can authorized
therefore it will limit the perpetrators of human rights abuses and genocide
to the state with which they are most attached
which is clearly the state of Israel.
But these notices of arrest for these soldiers and officers
have failed in multiple places because of the involvement of local authorities
in helping these soldiers to flee airports quickly
to avoid arrest and legal detention.
Yes, I mean the practical impact of geopolitical pressure
from the United States
and the lack of political will from the European Union and others
means that yes,
they are allowed many times to escape justice
simply because they are spirited away
or the prosecutions are not pursued,
the arrest warrants are never issued
or never enforced.
And so this is not a new problem, but it is one which after 70 or 80 years
we need to understand the impact of it.
More than a thousand cases have been filed worldwide
against Israeli soldiers and officers
suggesting that they are now threatened with arrest and legal prosecution
in regions that are expanding every day around the world.
The list of perpetrators is not limited to the ground forces that invaded Gaza
but has extended to its skies as well.
Exclusively on “The Tip of the Iceberg” we obtained a leaked list
containing names, addresses, and ranks of nearly 30,000
pilots, servicemembers, and technicians
in the Israeli Air Force
involved in the war of extermination against Gaza
whose airstrikes
claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians in the Strip.
Names that remain on the waiting list for trials around the world.
While we were working on this investigation
new dimensions began to emerge.
In Belgium
the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office
referred an investigation against two Israeli soldiers
with dual nationality to the International Criminal Court
in a rare judicial step at the European level.
And in the United Kingdom
a legal complaint was submitted to London’s Metropolitan Police
against ten citizens holding British nationality
who served in the Israeli army
accompanied by evidence and testimonies placed before the judiciary.
In Canada, an official investigation was opened
under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act
against Israeli soldiers.
In the United States of America
a complaint was filed against an Israeli soldier
involved in war crimes
and a file containing evidence and testimonies was delivered
to the U.S. Department of Justice
and the Department of Homeland Security
in a step considered unprecedented on U.S. soil.
It's not a legal action that stops the genocide
but it brings an aspect
where those who might hesitate
to participate in such an action
if they see that there is a real
accountability process that is starting up
it might refrain them from participating
or going too far.
Efforts to hold Israeli soldiers accountable
did not pass without a response
there have been assassination attempts against witnesses
to erase evidence.
Karim Hassoun
one of the founders of the Hind Rajab Foundation
revealed to us the foundation’s challenges
in protecting its witnesses.
What about the witnesses and victims
whom you rely on in the cases you have filed?
Is there a threat?
We have to be very careful with that
because we know that several people
who are known to be witnesses of the genocide
have been assassinated, targeted or killed.
When you look at the number of journalists that have been killed
A journalist is a direct witness of everything that is happening on the ground
We have more than 220 now journalists
that have been directly targeted and assassinated.
So, every witness that could bring about any evidence
of the genocide and the crimes against humanity
and the war crimes that the Israeli settler colonial state is committing in Gaza
is a target.
So, that's why we are extremely careful with them.
We do not reveal their identity because of these reasons.
We discovered…
fortunately, not from our cases but from others
that when a legal move is announced and the victim is in Gaza
the occupation usually moves to eliminate the victim.
Have there been examples or instances of this?
Some organizations took action
and announced the names of witnesses and victims—and they were killed.
These victims spoke to Western media
The Washington Post published the names of a family, a father and his son
The son was assassinated.
He was the witness to the paramedics’ massacre
- In Rafah? - Yes, in Rafah
and he was killed.
There are other cases
in several instances
especially in hospitals, there were teams that were targeted.
Israel has tried to fight the Palestinian narrative
or the support for Palestine
and in some cases also the narrative of the international community
that claims there are war crimes in Gaza.
When the International Court in The Hague
discussed issuing an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu
and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
Israel then sent legal advisers
and even the Israeli Supreme Court judge Aharon Barak
who was part of the judicial panel
since when a state is on trial, it has the right to appoint a judge.
They tried to fight that and present the Israeli narrative
I don’t think that truly succeeded
not at the International Court in The Hague
and certainly not in public opinion.
Do you think the Gaza file and the Palestinian cause
will finally impose itself on the agenda of the International Criminal Court
or is it destined to be forgotten?
I think it is my belief that
the file will not be closed
and it is never closed on injustice
or genocide or human rights abuses.
A state built on injustice on repression
cannot survive.
Behind the walls of the International Criminal Court in The Hague
a legal battle is intensifying against Israeli war criminals.
Hind Rajab
and thousands of names and cases
of the martyrs and victims of the war of extermination in Gaza
have been brought here
and a long list is still waiting.
Cases that place the world and its international justice
before a historic test
Will the killers be held accountable and the victims vindicated
or, in politics and its games, does what lies beneath remain greater?
The Tip of the Iceberg
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