A pro-Palestinian organization based in Europe said it has filed a criminal complaint in Germany against a German-Israeli soldier who fought in Gaza, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Hind Rajab Foundation said it submitted the complaint to Germany’s federal prosecutor general on May 30. The group said the filing accuses the soldier, identified only as C., of “committing crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide” under Germany’s international criminal code.
According to the foundation’s statement, issued by German attorney Melanie Schweitzer, C. served as a combat engineer in the Israel Defense Forces’ 551st Brigade, in the 8219th Engineering Battalion, during the fighting in Gaza. The complaint claims he documented his activities on social media, including demolitions of Palestinian infrastructure, and appeared in videos “celebrating the destruction, smoking a hookah and posing with fellow soldiers against a backdrop of explosions and fires.”
The group alleges the soldier participated in Operation Oz VeNir, an IDF mission aimed at capturing Hamas gunmen who took part in the October 7 massacre and later fled to southern Gaza. It said the operation took place in the town of Khuza’a, where “residential homes, schools, mosques and public buildings were destroyed,” and that C.’s unit “played a central role in the area’s devastation.”
The complaint includes screenshots and videos said to show C. detonating explosives or posing amid ruins. It cites reports by Western outlets including Bellingcat and The Washington Post, which the group said confirmed parts of his social media content.
The foundation’s director, Diab Abu Jahjah, a Lebanese-born activist known for his anti-Israel positions, urged German authorities to open a formal investigation. “If Germany fails to act, it means the law applies only when it is politically convenient,” he said. Attorney Schweitzer added that German prosecutors are legally obligated to investigate and warned that inaction could amount to “complicity in the denial of justice.”
The Hind Rajab Foundation said the complaint is part of what it calls a “global legal campaign” targeting Israeli soldiers and officers involved in the war in Gaza. The group, which operates from Europe and has known ties to organizations hostile to Israel, has in recent years pursued similar legal efforts in several countries.
Israeli officials have previously described the foundation as “an extremist group engaged in a legal witch hunt against IDF soldiers and in promoting anti-Israel propaganda.”