Second Israeli Soldier Accused in Gaza War Crimes Complaint Leaves India Weeks After Filing

An Israeli soldier accused of war crimes in Gaza left India in mid-September, weeks after the Hind Rajab Foundation filed a criminal complaint against him, a lawyer close to the case told Middle East Eye. His identity has not been made public, and it is unclear whether the complaint prompted the departure or whether his vacation had simply ended.

HRF's filing, submitted in mid-August, alleges the soldier documented his own involvement in the unlawful destruction of civilian property in the Khan Younis Governorate between March and April 2024. The organization says satellite imagery it obtained shows Israeli forces demolished homes there after already establishing full control of the area, a sequence HRF argues rules out any military necessity defense.

"The suspect and his unit carried out systematic destruction of homes and agricultural land in Gaza, conduct that undoubtedly violates international law," said Dyab Abou Jahjah, HRF's general director.

The case is the second of its kind this year. In June, HRF filed a complaint against Eitan Gilboa, a soldier with Israel's 271st Combat Engineering Battalion, over the demolition of civilian property in Gaza. Gilboa reportedly left India within days of that filing.

Both departures leave HRF's central demand unanswered: that India, host to a steady flow of Israeli soldiers on post-service holidays, actually enforce the international obligations it has signed onto. "This second complaint filed in India is part of our commitment and duty to bring perpetrators before the courts, and India must comply with its international obligations," Abou Jahjah said when the August filing was submitted.

The pattern lands awkwardly against India's own rhetoric. Speaking at a UN General Assembly sideline event this week, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said "multilateralism will be best served when international law, rules and norms are scrupulously observed." New Delhi has not joined South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ, has not supported an arms embargo, and is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, meaning it carries no legal duty to detain Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich despite outstanding ICC warrants against both.

India's posture is not merely rhetorical. Amnesty International reported in August that Indian state-owned and private firms shipped at least 2,596 consignments of arms, ammunition and military components to Israel between October 7, 2023 and November 30, 2025, including machine-gun parts, 155mm artillery shells supplied to Elbit Systems, and explosive warheads for SkyStriker drones. Jaishankar said in November 2024 that India's arms sales would be guided by its own "national interest."

At least 248,866 Palestinians have been killed or injured in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Neither soldier named or implicated in the two HRF filings has faced arrest, detention, or public identification by Indian authorities.