Thousands of Western Citizens Fought Israel’s War on Gaza: What to Know | ExplainerNews

Thousands of Western citizens have joined the Israeli army amid its genocidal war in Gaza, raising questions about international legal accountability for foreign nationals involved in alleged war crimes against Palestinians.

More than 50,000 soldiers in the Israeli army have at least one other citizenship, with a majority of them holding American or European passports, information obtained by Israeli NGO Hatzlacha through Israel’s freedom of information law has revealed.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza has killed at least 72,061 people in military actions that rights groups have called war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Rights organizations around the world have sought to identify and prosecute foreign nationals, many of whom have posted videos of their abuse on social media, for their involvement in war crimes, particularly in Gaza.

So what does the first such data reveal about the Israeli military? And what might the legal implications be for dual-national soldiers?

Which foreign nationals enlist the most in the Israeli army?

At least 12,135 soldiers enlisted in the Israeli army have US passports, which tops the list by a wide margin. This is in addition to 1,207 soldiers who hold another passport in addition to their US and Israeli passports.

The data – shared with Al Jazeera by Israeli lawyer Elad Man, who serves as the legal adviser to Hatzlacha – shows that 6,127 French citizens serve in the Israeli army.

The Israeli military, which shared such data for the first time, noted that soldiers with multiple citizenships were counted more than once in the breakdown.

The figures show service members enlisted in the army as of March 2025, 17 months after Israel’s devastating war in Gaza.

Russia ranks third, with 5,067 citizens serving in the Israeli army, followed by 3,901 Ukrainians and 1,668 Germans.

The data revealed that 1,686 soldiers in the army held dual British-Israeli citizenship, in addition to 383 other soldiers who held another passport besides their British and Israeli passports.

South Africa, which brought a case of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also had 589 of its citizens in the Israeli military ranks.

Furthermore, 1,686 soldiers have Brazilian citizenship, 609 Argentine, 505 Canadian, 112 Colombian and 181 Mexican, in addition to their Israeli nationality.

Israel’s military consists of an estimated 169,000 active personnel and 465,000 reservists – nearly eight percent of whom hold dual or multiple citizenships.

Can dual citizens be tried for war crimes in Gaza?

Ilias Bantekas, a professor of transnational law at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that “war crimes carry criminal liability under international law, regardless of what the law of nationality says.”

Otherwise, Nazi Germans, whose law allowed and compelled them to commit atrocities, would incur no liability, Bantekas added. “Dual nationality is irrelevant to criminal liability,” he said.

However, the big issue in prosecuting the accused “is to get (them) on your territory and put them before a court,” he noted.

Bantekas also added that there is no difference in the matter of accountability between indigenous soldiers and those of dual nationalities.

Dual citizens, in fact, “may also be liable under laws that prevent military service in foreign conflicts or joining armies of other nations,” the professor said.

The prosecution of foreign nationals was “almost the norm”, he noted.

“Think of Nazi Germans tried by Allied war crimes tribunals after World War II, Japanese officers tried by US military courts, and crimes committed during the Bosnian conflict where alleged perpetrators were tried by various courts in Europe,” Bantekas told Al Jazeera.

Last May, the UK’s Foreign Office said that allegations of war crimes should be submitted to the Metropolitan Police.

“The UK recognizes the right of British dual nationals to serve in the legally recognized armed forces of the country of their other nationality,” it said. “Allegations of war crimes must be submitted to the Met Police for investigation.”

Were foreign nationals tried for war crimes in Gaza?

Nationals with dual or multiple citizenships have not yet been arrested for committing war crimes in Gaza. But rights groups, including lawyers, are trying to get them prosecuted.

In the UK last April, the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) and the UK-based Public Interest Law Center (PILC) submitted a 240-page report to the Metropolitan Police.

Allegations against the 10 British individuals, whose names have not been made public, include murder, forced transfer of people and attacks on humanitarian staff between October 2023 and May 2024.

In September last year, a case was filed in Germany against a 25-year-old soldier, born and raised in Munich, for participating in the killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, by PCHR, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), Al-Haq, and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.

The sniper, with documented shootings near Gaza’s al-Quds and Nasser hospitals between November 2023 and March 2024, was a member of a unit known as “Refaim”, “ghost” in Hebrew.

Lawsuits against members of the same unit are also ongoing in France, Italy, South Africa and Belgium.

The Belgian public prosecutor’s office also opened a judicial investigation last October into a 21-year-old Belgian-Israeli citizen, a member of Refaim.

The compulsory military service law in Israel exempts dual citizens living abroad, making enlistment a voluntary act, an important distinction when such crimes are tried in foreign courts. Lawyers reportedly noted that the voluntary nature of the soldiers’ service made them more liable for alleged crimes.

What does international law say about soldiers in foreign wars?

South Africa brought its case to the ICJ in December 2023, arguing that Israel’s war in Gaza violates the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

While a final ruling could take years, in January 2024 the ICJ issued provisional measures ordering Israel to take steps to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza and to allow unhindered access for humanitarian aid. But Israel continued to restrict the supply of aid to Gaza in defiance of the interim order of the ICJ.

Under the Genocide Convention of 1948, countries that are parties to the treaty have a binding obligation to prevent and punish genocide. Countries can investigate and prosecute individuals who may have committed or were complicit in this crime.

In March last year, the International Center of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) announced the “Global 195” campaign to hold Israeli and dual national individuals accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The coalition intends to work simultaneously within multiple jurisdictions to apply for private arrest warrants and initiate legal action against those involved, including the Israeli military members and the entire Israeli military and political command at large.

For countries that are parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), there is an additional layer, where the ICC can assert its jurisdiction. Palestine has been a state party since 2015.

The State of Palestine is recognized as a sovereign nation by 157 of the 193 UN member states, representing 81 percent of the international community. Most recently it has been recognized by France, Belgium, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

A foreigner whose country considers Palestine a “friendly state” would also be vulnerable to prosecution for participating in the Israeli military’s war crimes in Gaza.

How does the Hind Rajab Foundation track alleged war criminals?

The Hind Rajab Foundation – named to honor a five-year-old Palestinian girl whose killing by Israeli soldiers on January 29, 2024 became emblematic of Israel’s genocide in Gaza – has collected reams of data with identifiable information about Israeli soldiers.

The Belgium-based foundation is the force behind an international push for accountability over war crimes in Gaza — and has since filed several cases, including a landmark challenge targeting 1,000 Israeli soldiers.

The foundation identified numerous individuals with dual citizenship, including 12 from France, 12 from the US, four from Canada, three from the UK and two from the Netherlands, in the complaint.

The foundation searched TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, where the Israeli soldiers brag about atrocities in Gaza, to gather information about the soldiers. It used the evidence to track down those accused of war crimes.

“We are in possession of many more profiles of dual nationals besides the 1,000 soldiers named in our complaint to the ICC. We will pursue legal action against all of them in the national courts of their respective countries,” the foundation said in October 2024. “Impunity must end, everywhere.”

The Hind Rajab Foundation says it seeks criminal accountability for Israeli war criminals, from those who planned and ordered operations to those who executed them, including foreign nationals who participated in or financed these crimes.

Its founder, Dyab Abou Jahjah, was also threatened by Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, who told him to “watch your pager” in a post on

In January last year, a complaint filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation led a Brazilian judge to order an investigation into an Israeli soldier vacationing in the country. The soldier had to flee, prompting the Israeli army to order all troops participating in combat to conceal their identities.

“Criminal liability under international law cannot be dissolved by time limits. It extends forever, and no statute of limitations applies,” said Bantekas of Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

However, prosecuting Israeli military members “is practically difficult for two reasons,” he said, noting the difficulty of obtaining first-hand evidence and the wariness of national prosecutors who may fear political or other repercussions.

“If public opinion and political opinion in Europe shifts much more in favor of Palestine than it is now, national prosecutions will feel more comfortable to initiate prosecutions,” he told Al Jazeera.