Belgium-based pro-Gaza entity seeks arrest of Israeli man 'holidaying' in Himachal 

In a press release issued on June 2, the Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), which fights for justice for civilians killed in Gaza by pursuing legal action against the perpetrators, has appealed to India’s Home Ministry and the Bureau of Immigration to immediately arrest Eitan Gilboa, a reservist in the Israeli army whom HRF claims is currently vacationing in Himachal Pradesh.

HRF has submitted a detailed investigative report proving that Gilboa personally carried out and celebrated the systematic demolition of entire residential blocks in Gaza as acts of revenge, constituting war crimes under the Geneva Conventions Act, 1960, the statement said. It added: “Gilboa, identified as a reservist in the 271st Combat Engineering Battalion, is currently located in Old Manali and Gondla Village, Himachal Pradesh.”

HRF, named after a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by the Israel Defense Forces during the Gaza war and founded in mid-2024, has shared on its website a video it claims is Gilboa’s own documentation of the destruction he carried out in Khan Younis and Rafah, both in Gaza. “These videos were later published by his mother on Instagram and Facebook. The accompanying posts suggest that these demolitions were carried out as acts of retribution and dedicated to fallen IDF soldiers. Upon returning, Gilboa staged photographs recreating scenes from his youth, juxtaposing himself against the ruins of Palestinian playgrounds and children’s toys amid the rubble,” the HRF statement said, adding that Gilboa was born in Gaza and left the region when Israel withdrew its troops from the Palestinian territory in a historic event known as the Gaza Disengagement.

According to the HRF statement, Gilboa and his unit detonated a residential area in Khan Younis in January 2024 and then, in June, in Rafah, where Gilboa reportedly ordered the demolition of multiple buildings, dedicating the act to Colonel Assaf Hamami, commander of the Southern Brigade of the Gaza Division, who was killed in Kibbutz Nirim on October 7, 2023. It adds that in July 2024, Gilboa was seen actively triggering an explosion on a residential block in Gaza, once again dedicating the act to Colonel Assaf Hamami.

“These acts violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, ratified by India. As a signatory to the convention, India is legally obligated under Article 146 of the Geneva Conventions to search for and prosecute individuals alleged to have committed grave breaches, regardless of nationality. Furthermore, the presence of Gilboa in India contradicts Article 51(c) of the Indian Constitution, which directs the State to foster respect for international law,” the HRF statement says.

HRF says it has submitted to Indian authorities a comprehensive investigative dossier, including geolocated videos, social media posts and chain-of-command documentation, along with the complaint.

Dyab Abou Jahjah, General Director, HRF, said in a statement on the organisation’s website: “Eitan Gilboa is not a tourist. He is a war criminal currently enjoying the hospitality of India while fleeing the consequences of his crimes. He has publicly documented himself turning entire neighbourhoods in Gaza into ash and dust, dedicating these massacres to fallen soldiers as acts of revenge. The videos show him triggering explosives that wiped out entire residential buildings in Gaza. India must act immediately to arrest him. It must not allow Indian soil to become a safe haven for those who celebrate the destruction of civilian lives.”

Many Israelis, most of them fresh from completing their mandatory military service back home, spend months in Himachal Pradesh, particularly in the tourist towns of Kasol and Dharamkot, where Hebrew signs, menus and restaurants catering to Israeli visitors are a familiar part of the local landscape. While the home ministry has not yet responded to the appeal, HRF routinely dispatches such appeals to various countries in the world.