Hind Rajab demands the arrest of 2 IDF soldiers at Tomorrowland, cites "Genocide"

An anti-Israel legal group, the Hind Rajab Foundation, has demanded the immediate arrest of two Israeli citizens attending the Tomorrowland music festival in Belgium, accusing them of war crimes and genocide in Gaza, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 13 News today (Sunday). The urgent request, filed with Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office in collaboration with the international law organization GLAN, was triggered after a group of Israelis was spotted waving the flag of the IDF’s Givati Brigade at the festival, a massive electronic music event held in Boom, Belgium.

The Hind Rajab Foundation, based in Brussels and led by two Lebanese-born activists, claims the two Israelis are responsible for “genocide” and “crimes against humanity” in Gaza, invoking Belgium’s universal jurisdiction laws, which allow prosecution of war crimes regardless of where they occurred. The group’s statement condemned the public display of the Givati Brigade flag, asserting, “For millions, it has become a symbol of impunity, destruction, and ethnic cleansing.” The foundation argued that Tomorrowland “cannot become a safe haven” for alleged war criminals, urging Belgian authorities to detain the individuals, launch a formal investigation, bring them to trial, and prevent their departure from the country.

The request follows the group’s pattern of targeting IDF soldiers abroad using open-source online information, such as social media posts, to build cases with local legal organizations. The foundation’s statement framed the flag’s display as raising “urgent political questions” about why those allegedly involved in serious international crimes can “roam freely, celebrate publicly, and glorify their actions without consequences.”

This is not the first such action by the Hind Rajab Foundation. Six months ago, the group demanded the International Criminal Court order the arrest of Maj. Gen. Rasan Alian, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, while he was in Rome, citing alleged war crimes. That effort followed a similar incident in which an IDF soldier was forced to flee South America after courts in Brazil and Argentina opened investigations into suspected “crimes against humanity” based on the foundation’s complaints.

Belgian authorities have not yet commented on the status of the request, and no arrests have been reported as of July 20, 2025. The incident has heightened concerns in Israel about the safety of its citizens abroad, particularly those with military backgrounds, amid growing international scrutiny of IDF actions in Gaza.