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Israel’s Ben-Gvir faces US complaint over alleged war crimes: Rights group

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Israel’s Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks at the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on 3 June 2024 [Amir Levy/Getty Images]

The Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a complaint with the US Justice Department accusing Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of committing war crimes against Palestinians, including US citizens, the organization said, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, the foundation said Ben-Gvir, who is expected to visit New York on July 7-8, had been accused of war crimes against Palestinians, including US citizens, and urged the Justice Department to open an investigation.

The organization said its complaint had been submitted to the relevant US authorities. It alleged that Ben-Gvir had used his authority since taking office in 2022 to implement policies of “systematic torture, murder, abuse and forced displacement” across the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly through the Israeli Prison Service.

The foundation said Ben-Gvir had shaped the policies of the Israeli police, the Israeli Prison Service and the Israeli Firearms Licensing Department under the National Security Ministry.

It said Ben-Gvir had made worsening prison conditions for Palestinian detainees a priority after taking office and that those policies had been implemented and praised by sections of the Israeli public.

READ: Trump subjected Netanyahu, Israel to ‘unprecedented humiliation’, former Israeli minister says

– ‘Network of torture camps’

The foundation said numerous Palestinian and international rights groups had described the Israeli Prison Service under Ben-Gvir as a “network of torture camps.”

It alleged that Palestinian detainees had been subjected to torture, including starvation, sleep deprivation, denial of medical care, sexual violence, and electric shocks.

The statement said at least 46 Palestinians had died in Israeli prisons between October 2023 and August 2025 as a result of those conditions.

It alleged that sexual violence has become routine, including forced public stripping, repeated strip searches, filming detainees while naked, assaults on genitals, rape threats, threats of rape against family members, and, in some cases, rape committed in front of other detainees.

The foundation added that Ben-Gvir had personally attended some incidents of torture and had frequently filmed himself while mistreating Palestinians.

It argued that the alleged war crimes also constituted genocide, saying Ben-Gvir’s objective was to destroy the Palestinian people in whole or in part through torture, abuse, and killings in prisons.

The statement also recalled Ben-Gvir’s remarks that “Lebanon should burn” and that “1,000 Lebanese mothers should cry for every tear shed by an Israeli mother,” alleging that he had made genocidal statements against both Palestinians and Lebanon.

The foundation called for an investigation to be opened, for Ben-Gvir to be prevented from leaving the US until the investigation was completed, and for Washington to fulfill its obligations under the Geneva Conventions.

Ben-Gvir is expected to lead an official delegation to the Police Chiefs Summit scheduled to be held at the UN headquarters in New York on July 7-8.

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Continue ReadingIsrael’s Ben-Gvir faces US complaint over alleged war crimes: Rights group

More than 200 illegal Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque under police protection

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A group of illegal Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in the occupied East Jerusalem on December 26, 2024. [Screengrab/AA]

More than 200 illegal Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem under the protection of Israeli police, authorities said Wednesday, Anadolu reports.

Anonymous sources from the Islamic Endowment Department said 217 illegal Israeli settlers raided the holy site.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center, a local rights group, said 124 settlers stormed the mosque in the morning, and 93 broke into the site later in the day.

The settlers performed Talmudic rituals within the courtyards under the protection of Israeli forces, the Wafa news agency in Palestine reported.

READ: Palestinian child killed by Israeli army during West Bank raid

The settler raid came after the reopening of the mosque following 12 days of it being closed due to a state of emergency that Israel implemented during its attacks on Iran.

Israel began allowing Israeli settlers to enter the Al-Aqsa compound in 2003, despite objections from the Islamic Endowment Department.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

READ: Israel bans entry into Al-Aqsa Mosque “again” until further notice

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Continue ReadingMore than 200 illegal Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque under police protection