News - Middle East: Belgian prosecutors have referred a legal complaint against two Israeli soldiers accused of violating international humanitarian law in the besieged Gaza Strip to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

On Wednesday, the prosecutor's office said it has decided to refer the complaints against the two members of the Israeli military to the ICC, in the "interest of the proper administration of justice and in accordance with Belgium’s international obligations."

The move follows legal complaints submitted by the Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) on July 18 and 19 against the two Israeli soldiers, who were on Belgian territory to attend the Tomorrowland music festival in the town of Boom.

The HRF and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) confirmed last week that the pair was detained after the groups told Belgian authorities there was credible evidence that they had committed war crimes in Gaza.

On July 21, two Israeli soldiers were arrested and questioned in Belgium as part of an investigation into war crimes committed by the Israeli army in the besieged Palestinian territory. 

The decision to question the two Israeli soldiers was based on an article in Belgium's Code of Criminal Procedure that went into force last year.

It grants Belgium's courts jurisdiction over acts committed overseas that are potentially governed by an international treaty, in this case the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1984 UN Convention against Torture.

The case is the latest in a series of lawsuits brought by the HRF, which has been pursuing justice for the Palestinian victims of Israeli genocide in Gaza.

The group has been using the social media posts of Israeli soldiers to track them and seek their arrests overseas using "universal jurisdiction". It is the legal principle through which any state can try a person for a serious breach of international law, regardless of where the crime was committed.

The HRF has filed several complaints in various countries against Israeli forces who participated in the genocidal campaign in Gaza. It also filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against 1,000 Israeli soldiers.

The ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former war minister, Yoav Gallant, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity on November 21, 2024.

Netanyahu is accused of using starvation as a method of warfare, intentionally attacking civilians and committing other inhumane acts during his genocidal military campaign in the besieged strip.

The death toll from the US-Israeli genocide since October 2023 stands at over 60,000. Nearly 146,000 Palestinians have been injured. The incessant Israeli strikes continue amid acute malnutrition and a severe lack of essential supplies.

Press TV