Hind Rajab Foundation files UK war crimes complaint against Israeli reservist
The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a UK criminal complaint against Israeli reservist Lidor Dafna over alleged demolition of a Gaza flour facility in May 2025.
The story in focus
The Hind Rajab Foundation filed a criminal complaint in the UK against Lidor Dafna, an Israeli reservist in the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion believed to be visiting Britain, Al Jazeera reported. The foundation alleges he took part in demolishing a flour-producing facility in southern Gaza in May 2025 and cites footage he posted online.
- The Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation filed the UK complaint against Lidor Dafna.
- Dafna served in Israel's 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion.
- The foundation alleges he helped demolish a flour-producing facility in May 2025, citing footage it says he posted of a bulldozer destroying wheat silos in southern Gaza.
- Al Jazeera said the UK Metropolitan Police had not responded to its request for comment.
- The allegations have not been tested in court.
What the complaint alleges
The Hind Rajab Foundation, a Brussels-based group, said it filed a criminal complaint in the United Kingdom against Lidor Dafna, an Israeli reservist in the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion believed to be visiting the country, Al Jazeera reported on 28 October 2026.
The foundation accuses Dafna of taking part in demolishing a flour-producing facility in May 2025. It said footage he posted on social media showed an Israeli military bulldozer destroying wheat silos in southern Gaza. The allegations have not been proven in court, and Al Jazeera said the UK Metropolitan Police had not responded to its request for comment.
The method behind the cases
The filing is part of a wider effort by the foundation to turn material Israeli soldiers publish themselves into evidence. Its head of litigation, Natacha Bracq, told Al Jazeera the group geolocates imagery against satellite data and cross-references military sources under the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations.
Khaled al-Shouli, an international lawyer representing Palestinian victims before the International Criminal Court, told Al Jazeera that social media material can be valuable but is not automatically decisive, and that linking a specific person to a crime requires proof beyond a soldier appearing in a place.
Earlier cases abroad
The foundation points to Belgium, where it says federal police detained and questioned two Israeli soldiers after a complaint before releasing them and referring the case to the ICC. In Canada, former combat soldier Guy Hochman was detained and interrogated at Toronto Pearson Airport after a complaint. In Brazil, a judge ordered an investigation in January 2025, but the soldier left before being questioned.
Has anyone been charged over the UK complaint?
No. The foundation filed the complaint, but the allegations against Lidor Dafna have not been proven in court, and Al Jazeera reported no response from the Metropolitan Police.
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