Dutch lawyer submits case against 1,000 Israeli soldiers to ICC

A Dutch lawyer, Harun Reda, has filed a criminal complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against 1,000 Israeli soldiers, accusing them of participating in war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

According to Arabic news site Arabi21, Reda said he filed the complaint on behalf of victims in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, a year after Israel launched its indiscriminate war on the Gaza Strip, while stepping up attacks and arrests in the West Bank.

Reda is a representative of the '30 March’ movement in the Netherlands, an organisation founded by activists in Europe with the aim of stopping what they term Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The group takes its name from the Palestinian Land Day, which commemorates protests against Israel’s confiscation of Palestinian land which happened on 30 March 1976.

Reda says that his complaint is based on evidence documented by the United Nations and human rights organisations, as well as video clips collected from social media by some of the group’s team members.

He added that some of the videos show Israeli soldiers publicly boasting about their participation in military operations in Gaza and in the West Bank.

The complaint is 428 pages long and includes the names of senior commanders and pilots in the Israeli army.

The lawyer said the 30 March movement intends on prosecuting the soldiers, especially those of them who hold dual nationalities.

The movement also said they can prosecute Israeli leaders.

On 7 March, Hebrew newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli Prime Minister Isaac Herzog may cancel a scheduled visit to the Netherlands out of fear of being arrested on charges of being involved in "genocide" in Gaza.

The news site added that Reda had called for Herzog’s arrest upon his arrival.

In a speech made by Reda, he stressed that Herzog’s actions and public comments regarding the war on Gaza have contributed to the enormous civilian death toll in the territory. He also mentioned several holy sites and public buildings had been destroyed by Israeli military attacks.

The case against the soldiers comes as Israel continues its war on the enclave with the death toll reaching 42,175. An additional 98,336 people have been wounded in the same time frame.

Israel’s war on Gaza has levelled entire neighbourhoods and has had a catastrophic impact on key infrastructure and medical services. The war has plunged the enclave into a deep humanitarian crisis.