The Hind Rajab Foundation announced on Friday that it had filed a complaint with authorities in Sri Lanka against an Israeli-American former soldier currently visiting the country, citing war crimes committed while he served in Gaza.
According to the group, the soldier is currently traveling in Sri Lanka after completing his military service.
Soldier allegedly served in combat engineering battalion
The complaint stated that the recently discharged soldier voluntarily enlisted in the IOF following October 7, 2023, and was deployed to Gaza as a member of the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion.
The foundation argued in its statement that the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion is a "central operational unit in the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure across Gaza." It further noted that while the unit is nominally tasked with engineering functions such as mine clearance and fortification, its activities in practice have consisted of "the systematic demolition of civilian areas."
The group said it had established a "direct connection" between the former soldier and "at least one incident of unlawful destruction in Khan Younis in October-November 2025."
Social media posts cited as evidence
To support its claims, the HRF cited "visual evidence" of the soldiers' activities in Gaza he had published on social media. It cited an image where he can be seen "holding a detonation cable inside a destroyed civilian building alongside fellow soldiers, indicating active participation in a controlled demolition."
The group further asserted that as a member of the battalion, the soldier carried out a number of actions that could "constitute multiple war crimes under international law," including intentionally attacking civilian areas and property and unjustified destruction of property.
Beginning in 2024, the Hind Rajab Foundation has used social media posts by Israeli soldiers, officers, and reservists to locate them and attempt to have them arrested for alleged war crimes when traveling abroad. The group has sparked alarm within "Israel", prompting the IOF to create new rules to hide troops' personal information from being tracked online.
Sri Lanka urged to take legal action
Since the former soldier is currently present in Sri Lanka, the group urged the country to take "appropriate legal action" against him. The foundation asserted that states have a duty to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute individuals suspected of committing grave breaches of international humanitarian law.
"The presence of such individuals on their territory engages their responsibility to act," the group stated. There was no immediate response from Sri Lankan authorities.
According to the foundation, the case of the US-Israeli soldier is not isolated but rather "part of a broader pattern of conduct by members of the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion and other units operating in Gaza."
The Hind Rajab Foundation is an organization named after a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed by "Israel" in January 2024.
On January 29, 2024, a car carrying Hind Rajab, 6, and six of her family members was hit by Israeli tank fire in Gaza City, killing them instantly. Hind remained bleeding at the hit car for three hours until she took her last breath as paramedics failed to reach her due to intense Israeli fire.
The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed dozens of criminal complaints against Israeli military personnel and officials traveling or stationed abroad over the past two years.
Source:Websites
