BERLIN: Human rights lawyers filed a lawsuit against an Israeli soldier of German origin over suspected involvement in the targeted killing of unarmed Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and three Palestinian human rights organizations said they filed a criminal complaint with Germany’s federal prosecutor against a sniper in the Israeli Defense Forces.
ECCHR said the 25-year-old soldier was born and raised in Munich and had a registered residence in Germany until recently, but could not confirm that the man had dual citizenship.
In a 130-page complaint, ECCHR said the groups submitted evidence, including investigative research and audiovisual recordings, alleging that the soldier belonged to the so-called “Ghost Unit” of the 202nd Paratroopers Battalion.
The ECCHR statement said its evidence indicated that members of the unit deliberately killed civilians in Gaza.
The Israeli military and foreign ministry and Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The human rights groups said targeted sniper shootings were documented near Gaza’s Al Quds and Nasser hospitals between November 2023 and March 2024, adding that legal proceedings against members of the same unit were also underway in France, Italy, South Africa and Belgium.
The case was filed under German laws that allow prosecutors to pursue international crimes if the accused persons were born in Germany or German nationals, ECCHR said.
“There must be no double standards – even if the suspects are members of the Israeli armed forces,” ECCHR’s lawyer Alexander Schwarz said in a statement.
Rights groups file case in Germany against German-Israeli soldier over suspected Gaza war crimes
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Rights groups file case in Germany against German-Israeli soldier over suspected Gaza war crimes
- The human rights groups said targeted sniper shootings were documented near Gaza’s Al Quds and Nasser hospitals between November 2023 and March 2024
Israeli military says unintentionally struck UN agency truck in Gaza
- “Our teams are taking extraordinary risks every day to keep humanitarian operations and life-sustaining services running,” UNOPS Executive Director Jorge Moreira da Silva said in a statement, calling for an investigation into the incident
TEL AVIV: Israel’s military said on Friday that a “firing component” launched by its navy unintentionally struck a fuel truck belonging to a United Nations agency in Gaza the previous day, an incident that prompted the agency to publicly call for a full investigation.
The United Nations Office for Project Services, which oversees fuel distribution in Gaza, said that the empty fuel truck was struck on Thursday around 5 a.m. from the direction of the sea, causing damage to the vehicle. There were no injuries.
“Our teams are taking extraordinary risks every day to keep humanitarian operations and life-sustaining services running,” UNOPS Executive Director Jorge Moreira da Silva said in a statement, calling for an investigation into the incident.
“They should not have to do that under fire,” he said.
In response to Reuters questions, the Israeli military said that the incident occurred during defensive naval activity, and that a firing component deviated from its intended trajectory.
The fuel truck sustained “minor damage,” the military said in a statement. The military did not say what type of munitions had been fired, or what had been the navy’s intended target.
“The incident was reviewed, and lessons were learned accordingly,” it said, without providing further details.
The fuel truck had been on its way to the Kerem Shalom crossing when it was struck, and the truck’s movements had been coordinated with Israeli authorities in advance, UNOPS said.
