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Monday, July 21, 2025
Foreign Ministry confirms 2 Israelis briefly detained in Belgium amid reported war crimes probe
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.
The Foreign Ministry confirms that two Israelis, a civilian and an IDF soldier, on vacation in Belgium were detained yesterday for questioning and released shortly thereafter.
“The Foreign Ministry and the IDF handled the matter and are in contact with the two,” says the ministry in a statement, without adding details on the cause of the arrest.
Belgium’s public broadcaster reported, citing the federal prosecutor’s office, that two Israelis were briefly detained and questioned by Belgian police while attending the Tomorrowland music festival in Belgium, after a complaint was lodged against them by the Hind Rajab Foundation.
In its complaint, the anti-Israel group had alleged that the two were “responsible for grave international crimes, including war crimes and genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
According to public broadcaster RTBF, the federal prosecutor’s office moved to detain the two Israelis after reviewing the Hind Rajab Foundation’s complaint and determining that it had the jurisdiction to do so based on a 2024 amendment to the Belgian Code of Criminal Procedure.
The men were detained by police, questioned, and then released, the report said.
The Times of Israel Community.