Earlier this week the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) revealed via an Al Jazeera documentary the identities of occupation commanders and troops responsible for the horrific murder of five-year-old Hind Rajab and her family in a hail of 355 bullets from a tank machine gun. Shortly afterward, the HRF, which is named after the young victim, submitted a 120-page Article 15 dossier to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands. The dossier names twenty-four ‘Israeli’ soldiers and their commanders accused of the murders of Hind and six members of her family in January last year, along with Yusuf al-Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun, the two Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics despatched to try to help them.
Hind Rajab murdered by Israeli ‘Vampire Empire Company’
According to the HRF submission, the twenty-four accused perpetrators are linked to the so-called ‘Vampire Empire Company’ of the 52nd Armoured Battalion, part of Israel’s 401st Armoured Brigade. The complaint names:
• Colonel Beni Aharon, Commander of the 401st Armoured Brigade
• Colonel Daniel Ella, Commander of the 52nd Armoured Battalion
• Major Sean Glass, Commander of the Vampire Empire Company (VEC), who allegedly gave the direct order to fire
• Twenty-two identified tank crew members directly involved in the attack
The documentary gave names of some of the alleged rank and file perpetrators, for example tank crew member Itay Cukierkopf, other names were not disclosed and have been submitted confidentially to the ICC, for release as complaints are filed with national governments.
The Hind Rajab Foundation dossier includes satellite images, digital evidence, and forensic analysis proving that at least one Merkava IV tank of the VEC repeatedly fired on the Rajab family’s black Kia Picanto and then targeted the ambulance sent to rescue them. The HRF says the evidence shows that these attacks were carried out with full awareness that the victims were civilians and were therefore war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide under Articles 6, 7, and 8 of the Rome Statute.
As well as the ICC case, the HRF is also seeking national prosecutions under the principle of universal jurisdiction and the dual nationality of some perpetrators. A case has already been filed in Argentina against Cukierkopf and additional cases are underway in Europe, Latin America, and North America.
The inevitable reckoning of truth
HRF general director Dyab Abou Jahjah — who has faced death threats against him and his family for HRF’s pursuit of justice — said that HRF and other groups pursuing Israeli war criminals and genociders are an ‘act of revolt’ against the refusal of many governments to take action against Israel and Israelis:
This is not only a legal act, it’s a revolt against the global order of impunity. Twenty-four names are now before the ICC, and more will follow in national courts. Justice is not a favor we ask, it is the inevitable reckoning of truth.
The Hind Rajab Foundation is urging the ICC to expand the investigation to include the entire VEC and its parent units, the 52nd Armoured Battalion and the 401st Armoured Brigade, and to issue arrest warrants for the twenty-four accused perpetrators as a matter of urgency.
HRF head of litigation Natacha Bracq said:
The evidence demonstrates organised and systematic intent. The Hind Rajab case is not isolated — it represents a wider pattern of violations that the ICC must urgently address. The rule of law cannot remain selective when the crime is genocide.
The Al Jazeera Arabic documentary’s evidence showed that occupation Merkavas were not only present at the scene of the attack but directly responsible for the deaths. This disproves Israel’s initial lie that there were no tanks in the vicinity, as well as outlining the roles of Glass and his tank company. Tech analysis firm Forensic Architecture at Goldsmiths University in London confirmed more than a year ago that the tanks were at the scene and that there were no Palestinian fighters near the Rajab’s car.
The HRF has emphasised that the Rajab case is part of a much wider effort to hold accountable those responsible for the horrific Israeli war crimes in Gaza — and those who grant them impunity. So intensive and effective have its efforts been that the Israeli government has mounted a mass online smear campaign against the organisation in an attempt to discredit it, while also threatening violence against its officials and their families.
