A Belgian prosecutor said Friday that the country has launched an investigation into possible war crimes committed by a Belgian soldier fighting for Israel in Gaza.
The federal prosecutor office said that the probe focuses on Belgian member of an elite unit of the Israeli military. According to multiple media reports, the man is a dual Belgian-Israeli citizen in his 20s from the Brussels municipality of Uccle who serves the Israeli army in the “Refaim” sniper unit.
The unit, which has been active in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, consists of 21 people, including three Americans, two French, a German, an Italian, and the Belgian man under investigation.
The Belgian probe, which was officially opened on Wednesday, comes after an investigation by Palestinian journalist and Bellingcat contributor Younis Tirawi, who accused the Refaim sniper unit of “brutal execution of unarmed civilians.”
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