WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Israeli news outlet Ynet has published a guide for soldiers on how to avoid being arrested while travelling abroad amid growing pressure on countries to detain Israelis suspected of war crimes.
The guide, entitled “Here’s how to act if arrested abroad and what to check before flight”, features advice from Nick Kaufman, a defense lawyer at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
He says that “any detained Israeli - whether a civilian or a soldier - is entitled to consular assistance”.
“Soldiers who post videos online provide hostile organizations with potential evidence to support suspicions against them,” he warns.
Describing videos of Zionist troops singing “racist songs” as “seemingly minor content”, he advises soldiers to “avoid posting photos or videos from their service, especially content showing destroyed buildings, even if there’s a military justification”.
The guide warns soldiers and officers in the military to consult an international criminal law expert before travelling anywhere, warning that “even friendly nations like the UK, France and Spain” may conduct arrests.
It further notes that insurance companies do not provide coverage “for arrests abroad related to alleged criminal acts”.
Pro-Palestinian organizations have filed 50 complaints in courts around the world against Zionist troops for committing war crimes in Gaza, Israeli media said on Monday.
“About 50 complaints have been filed against reserve soldiers, 10 of which have been investigated without any arrests recorded so far,” the public broadcaster KAN said.
KAN did not name these countries. However, the Israeli daily Haaretz said South Africa, Sri Lanka, Belgium, France, and Brazil saw complaints filed against Israeli soldiers.
KAN, citing the army’s information security department, said Zionist troops publish nearly one million posts every day on social media platforms that document their involvement in war crimes in Gaza.
In a relevant development, as many as 620 lawyers in Chile have demanded the arrest of a discharged Zionist soldier from Battalion 749 for his involvement in crimes against humanity and genocide in the Gaza war, local media have reported. Saar Hirshoren is currently travelling in the South American country.
The complaint accused Hirshoren of “deliberately destroying residential neighborhoods, cultural sites and essential facilities in Gaza, committing inhumane, cruel and degrading acts, causing ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of the population.”
The complaint was supported by the testimony of a Palestinian woman living in Chile, whose family members are victims of the Israeli occupation army’s operations since October 2023.