
Israeli soldiers arrested in Belgium after war crimes complaint by rights groups
A statement by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) said the pair were in the country to attend a music festival and that legal proceedings were ongoing.
"The suspects were identified and arrested with a clear show of force at the Tomorrowland festival in Boom," HRF said on Monday.
"After being taken into custody, they were formally interrogated and released. The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office has confirmed that a criminal investigation is now underway."
The complaint was filed last week by HRF and the Global Legal Action Network (Glan).
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
"This development is a significant step forward," the two groups said.
"It signals that Belgium has recognised its jurisdiction under international law and is treating the allegations with the seriousness they deserve.
"At a time when far too many governments remain silent, this action sends a clear message: credible evidence of international crimes must be met with legal response - not political indifference."
More to follow

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Gulf Today
40 minutes ago
- Gulf Today
UN says 1,373 killed while waiting for aid in Gaza since late May
The UN human rights office said on Friday that 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while waiting for aid in the shortage-stricken Gaza Strip since late May, most of them by the Israeli military. "In total, since 27 May, at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food; 859 in the vicinity of (US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) sites and 514 along the routes of food convoys," the UN agency's office for the Palestinian territories said in a statement. "Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military," it added. Gaza's civil defence agency said 11 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes on Friday, including two who were waiting near an aid distribution site inside the Palestinian territory. Palestinians carry sacks of flour taken from a humanitarian aid convoy en route to Gaza City. AP Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five people were killed in a strike near the southern city of Khan Yunis, and four more in a separate strike on a vehicle in central Gaza's Deir el-Balah. The Israeli army told AFP it could not confirm the strikes without specific coordinates. Two other people were killed and more than 70 injured by Israeli fire while waiting for aid near a food distribution centre run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) between Khan Yunis and the nearby city of Rafah, the civil defence said. The army did not immediately respond to the report. A Palestinian is carried after being wounded while trying to reach trucks carrying humanitarian aid en route to Gaza City. AP Thousands of Gazans have gathered each day near aid distribution points in Gaza, including the four managed by GHF, whose operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on people waiting to collect rations. GHF has denied that fatal shootings have occurred in the immediate vicinity of its aid points. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties. Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods and aid into Gaza since the start of the war nearly 22 months ago have led to shortages of food and essential goods, including medicine, medical supplies and fuel, which hospitals rely on to power their generators. The shortages were exacerbated by a more than two-month total blockade on aid imposed by Israel, which began easing the stoppage in late May as GHF was beginning its operations. Israel's defence ministry body overseeing civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, COGAT, said Friday that more than 200 trucks of aid had been collected and distributed by the UN and international organisations the previous day. The UN says Gaza requires at least 500 trucks of aid per day. COGAT added that four tankers of fuel for the UN had entered the Palestinian territory, and that 43 pallets of aid were airdropped in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan. Agencies


Middle East Eye
41 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Why are people protesting against the Boston Consulting Group?
In San Francisco, Boston, Dallas and other cities around the country, protesters have marched and chanted outside the offices of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The demonstrators were demanding accountability for BCG's role in creating a deadly new aid distribution system backed by the US and Israel that a United Nations official described as using starvation as a bargaining chip. Founded in 1961 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, BCG is one of the most prominent consulting firms in the United States and advises clients on a large number of topics, including security and humanitarian issues. BCG is one of the world's three largest management consulting firms by revenue and is no stranger to controversy. It has been reported to have worked with Isabel dos Santos, who was accused of exploiting Angola's natural resources. It is also reported to have been one of the firm's "critical" in helping Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman consolidate his grip on power in the kingdom. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Middle East Eye examines the BCG's role in Gaza's humanitarian crisis and efforts to hold the consulting firm accountable. Collaboration with Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Between October 2024 and May 2025, BCG helped establish the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The GHF began to invite increased scrutiny in early June as evidence of massacres at GHF aid sites emerged, prompting BCG to cancel its contracts with GHF and describe their previous cooperation as 'unapproved'. 'Two former partners initiated this work, even though the lead partner was categorically told not to. This work was not a BCG project. It was orchestrated and run secretly outside any BCG scope or approvals. We fully disavow this work. BCG was not paid for any of this work,' BCG wrote on their website. But a Financial Times (FT) investigation revealed that BCG's cooperation with the GHF was extensive and discussed with senior BCG figures, while the Washington Post's reporting showed that BCG was filing monthly invoices of over $1m a month. The FT investigation found that BCG was originally contacted by Orbis, an American security company working on behalf of an Israeli think tank, to do a feasibility study for a new Gaza aid operation. Senior partners at BCG 'step down over Gaza humanitarian controversy' Read More » BCG then helped create Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), a mercenary firm that would provide security at aid sites, along with GHF. At one point, SRS reportedly chastised a contractor under its command for refusing to shoot Palestinian children. GHF's executive director resigned hours before GHF's public launch in May, claiming it was impossible to implement GHF's Gaza aid plan 'while also strictly adhering to humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence'. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher also criticised the GHF, describing it as 'a fig leaf for further violence and displacement'. BCG planned to bill GHF around $4m for work that included developing financial models of what the UN described as 'ethnic cleansing' in Gaza. The model included 'voluntary relocation', where Palestinians in Gaza would have been given $5,000, rent subsidies for four years and subsidised food for a year. The model predicted that a quarter of the population would leave, and three-fourths of them would never return, according to FT. As Israeli air strikes indiscriminately kill Palestinians and children starve to death under Israel's suffocating siege, such an offer could hardly be considered voluntary and was widely condemned by rights groups. Why is the GHF controversial? Set up to bypass UN aid distribution networks that have been in place for decades, but that Israel alleges are now linked to Hamas, GHF sites have proven deadly for Palestinians seeking aid. Israeli soldiers have admitted to deliberately killing unarmed Palestinian aid seekers at GHF distribution sites, with one Israeli soldier describing the aid centres as 'killing fields'. Over a thousand Palestinian aid-seekers have been killed, mostly at GHF sites, since May, according to the UN. Yet as malnutrition spreads across Gaza, hungry Palestinians have little choice but to brave Israeli bullets to search for aid. Israel alleges that violence at the aid sites is necessary to stop the aid from being stolen by Hamas. However, an internal US review examined 156 instances of stolen or lost aid and found no evidence that Hamas was stealing it. Rather, Israel directly or indirectly caused the loss or theft of aid in 44 instances, according to the findings. Meanwhile, Israel has admitted that it supports anti-Hamas gangs notorious for stealing aid. How other aid organisations reacted to BCG On 13 June, Save the Children International became the first charity to pause cooperation with BCG over its role in the GHF. Save the Children CEO Inger Ashing said BCG's modelling of a plan for the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza 'disregards fundamental rights and dignity, and raises serious ethical and legal questions' - and that Save the Children would suspend work with BCG pending the outcome of an external investigation. Several days later, BCG's chief risk officer and the leader of its social-impact practice resigned from their roles. Yet despite the international outcry against GHF, some humanitarian aid organisations have been hesitant to cut ties with GHF. Although the World Food Programme told The New Humanitarian that it planned to review its ties with BCG, other humanitarian aid organisations, including some that decried the GHF, did not indicate that they were considering ending their relationship with BCG. What protests have there been against BCG? Some protesters have found BCG, with dozens of locations across the US, an accessible target to protest against the killing of aid seekers in Gaza. On 25 July, demonstrators banged pots and pans outside BCG's headquarters in the Seaport district of Boston. GHF chief attacks UN and media, avoids saying 'Palestinians' when referring to Gaza Read More » A security guard at the building seriously injured one protester when he pushed the protester into a metal pole, breaking several ribs. 'Very quickly, a security guard ran from within the building without me noticing him, and slammed into me and pushed me away from the door with all his strength,' the protester, who asked to remain anonymous, told Middle East Eye. Multiple witnesses corroborated the account, and the protester was later taken by ambulance to a hospital with a trauma centre. On 25 July, at least a dozen protesters were arrested when demonstrators staged a sit-in at a BCG facility in Dallas. Protesters also demonstrated outside a BCG office in Dallas on Thursday. On the west coast of the United States, the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) organised protests outside of BCG's offices in San Francisco and San Diego. 'The time to act is now! The genocide in Gaza had reached a critical moment with thousands facing starvation due to the brutal siege on the strip… we will make ourselves heard,' a statement from the San Diego chapter of PYM said.

Middle East Eye
an hour ago
- Middle East Eye
EU delegation to the Palestinians condemns 'No Other Land' crew member's body being withheld by Israel
The European Union delegation to the Palestinians announced it and other diplomatic missions "extended condolences to the community of Um al-Khair after an Israeli settler killed Awdah Hathaleen", and criticised the withholding of his body in a post on X on Friday. "A military closure was imposed, his body remains withheld and a dignified burial is refused," the post said. "Since January 2023, over 2,800 Palestinians have been displaced due to settler violence and related coercive practices. In 2025 alone, settlers have reportedly killed four Palestinians, including Hathaleen, and injured more than 350. "Settlements are illegal under international law. Israel must take concrete steps to prevent settler violence against Palestinians and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable". The English teacher, activist, and father of three was killed on Monday.