Group asks ICC to arrest Israeli rabbi bragging about Gaza crimes

The pro-Palestine advocacy group Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC), seeking “the immediate arrest of” an Israeli rabbi bragging about his war crimes and crimes against humanity in the besieged Gaza Strip. 

In a statement on Thursday, HRF, which is the legal arm of the March 30 Movement, said that it had filed a formal complaint with ICC against Avraham Zarbiv, an Israeli rabbi and a soldier in the Givati Brigade, who boastfully acknowledges that he has committed war crimes in the blockaded Palestinian territory.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 14 on Wednesday, Zarbiv, who served over 470 days in the Israeli Forces reserves, openly stressed that “Our method was to erase everything in front of us, next to us, and behind us” in Gaza.

“They’re returning to nowhere, tens of thousands of families, that no longer have papers, they have no childhood photos, or IDs,” Zarbiv proudly said, as his audience clapped when he was describing the level of destruction he wrought on the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

HRF emphasized that the Israeli rabbi’s crimes were well-documented through his own public admissions and video evidence.

Zarbiv “openly admitted to: destroying 50 buildings per week in Gaza, targeting private homes, schools, hospitals, and aid facilities, participating in the complete destruction of entire neighborhoods, such as Jabalia, Rafah, and other towns, and publicly inciting violence and hatred, including endorsing the killing of Palestinian civilians and the obliteration of their communities,” the rights group stressed.

In the interview, Zarbiv bragged about using a D9 bulldozer to deliberately demolish homes and destroy Gaza’s infrastructure, confirmed the Givati Brigade's systematic targeting of civilian areas, and, in video footage from February 7, 2024, was seen throwing grenades and firing at unarmed Palestinian civilians in Khan Yunis, all of which constitute clear violations of international humanitarian law, HRF added.

“The crimes attributed to Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv constitute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and violations of the Rome Statute, including war crime of attacking civilians, extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity, and intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects,” the advocacy group further noted.

Gazans return to devastation; 400,000+ homes destroyed or damaged

New images show sheer scale of destruction in Gaza as the besieged people return to their destroyed homes after ceasefire.

Addressing ICC, the pro-Palestine group stressed that Zarbiv must be swiftly apprehended and prosecuted, warning that his actions, along with the impunity that frequently protects those responsible for such crimes, must not be allowed to go unchallenged.

In a post on X, Palestinian financial expert and human rights advocate Ramy Abdu also denounced Zarbiv’s crimes in Gaza and bragged about them as “horrifying and appalling.”

“An Israeli officer & bulldozer operator brags before a cheering audience about demolishing 50 to 60 residential buildings weekly in Gaza. He proudly claims to have completely destroyed Rafah and Jabalia, likening the destruction of homes to ‘playing music,’” Abdu said.

Israel’s brutal onslaught on the besieged territory, which started on October 7, 2023, killed more than 47,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 112,000 others.

The toll continues to climb as families return to the ruins of their former homes following the ceasefire, searching for the bodies of loved ones left in the aftermath. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has reported that around 10,000 bodies are still unaccounted for beneath the rubble.

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