Belgian authorities have formally referred a war crimes complaint against two Israeli soldiers to the International Criminal Court (ICC), following a request by a Belgian non-governmental organisation. The move comes after the pair were briefly questioned in Belgium earlier this month, the country’s Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed on Wednesday.
According to the official statement, the two Israeli soldiers were identified while attending an art festival near Antwerp on July 18. Their presence in the country was flagged just days after a Belgian NGO lodged a complaint accusing them of committing serious violations of international humanitarian law during Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Belgian police reportedly detained and questioned the men following the complaint but later released them without charge. The authorities subsequently referred the matter to the ICC in The Hague, citing the court’s existing mandate to investigate alleged war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The complaint alleges that the soldiers played active roles in the conflict in Gaza, including the arbitrary detention of Palestinian civilians, acts of torture, and the use of human shields—practices that constitute grave breaches under international law if proven.
The prosecutor’s office clarified that the referral to the ICC does not imply guilt but rather seeks to place the matter under the jurisdiction of the international tribunal, which is currently conducting ongoing investigations related to the situation in Palestine.
The referral marks a rare instance of a European country escalating a war crimes complaint against foreign military personnel to the ICC. It comes amid growing international scrutiny over the conduct of military operations in Gaza, which have drawn widespread criticism from human rights organisations and international legal experts.
The Israeli government has not yet issued a public response to the Belgian referral, though it has previously rejected accusations of war crimes as politically motivated and has defended its military’s conduct as being in line with international law.
The ICC, which opened a formal investigation into potential war crimes in the Palestinian territories in 2021, has not confirmed whether it will pursue the new referral. If it does, the case could become a focal point in the broader legal efforts to hold individuals accountable for alleged abuses during the Gaza conflict.
