Two weeks after a Brussels-based human rights organization filed an official complaint seeking the arrest of an Israeli army reservist accused of war crimes in Gaza, the suspect is thought to have left Indian territory, an anonymous legal source connected to the case confirmed to Middle East Eye Thursday.
The accused, Eitan Gilboa, a member of Israel’s 271st Combat Engineering Battalion, had been vacationing in India when the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) submitted the 2 June complaint to Indian authorities. Per the legal representative, who requested anonymity due to personal security risks, Gilboa likely fled the country just days after the complaint was registered.
HRF’s case accuses Gilboa of direct involvement in crimes against humanity carried out during Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza. The organization alleges that Gilboa personally oversaw and celebrated the demolition of civilian residential neighborhoods in the southern Gazan cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, documented his actions in on-the-ground photos and videos, and shared the content publicly on social media platforms. These acts, HRF argues, violate the Fourth Geneva Convention and qualify as prosecutable war crimes under India’s 1960 Geneva Conventions Act. Middle East Eye has independently reviewed multiple pieces of evidence held by HRF to support these claims.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has been formally recognized as genocide by the United Nations, leading global human rights organizations, and hundreds of genocide studies scholars. When the complaint was first filed, HRF Director-General Dyab Abou Jahjah stressed that Gilboa was not an ordinary tourist, but a suspected war criminal seeking to evade accountability for his actions. “New Delhi must not allow its soil to become a safe haven for those who celebrate the destruction of civilian lives,” Jahjah said in a statement at the time.
The complaint against Gilboa is part of HRF’s global campaign to investigate and prosecute Israeli nationals accused of war crimes in Gaza. Founded in 2024, the organization has already filed more than 90 criminal complaints against suspected war criminals across 30 different national jurisdictions.
India has emerged as a top post-service travel destination for discharged Israeli military personnel, alongside Thailand and Sri Lanka. An estimated tens of thousands of Israelis travel to India annually, many trekking the popular “Hummus trail” through the Himalayan foothills to decompress after military service. Prior to his departure, Gilboa was spotted in Old Manali and Gondla village in India’s Himachal Pradesh state.
Gilboa was born in Moshav Morag, an illegal Israeli settlement established in the southwestern Gaza Strip, decades before Israel withdrew all settlers from the enclave in 2005. He was redeployed to Gaza as part of the Israeli military’s ground offensive following the 7 October 2023 attacks carried out by Hamas on southern Israel. Following the conclusion of his active reserve service, he traveled directly to India for vacation.
The legal representative for the case told MEE that India’s federal government has so far taken only token action on the complaint, despite India’s binding legal obligations under the 1960 Geneva Conventions Act. “We expected India to move to enforce its obligations under domestic law and international law, but the only response we received was an email from the Bureau of Immigration asking for HRF’s contact information, which was shared immediately. There has been no follow-up action of any kind since that point,” the lawyer said.
On 16 June, the U.S.-based Polis Project reported that HRF documents confirmed the complaint had been forwarded to the Foreigners Division of India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, the department legally responsible for reviewing visas and ordering deportations. No intervention or action was taken within the legally allowed window to process deportation, the organization confirmed.
In its formal complaint, HRF demanded Indian authorities immediately arrest Gilboa, file a First Information Report (FIR) to open a formal criminal investigation, and order his deportation if arrest was not feasible. This complaint marks the first case of its kind brought against an alleged Israeli war crime suspect in India, at a time of rapidly deepening bilateral ties between New Delhi and Tel Aviv.
Earlier this year, India and Israel upgraded their diplomatic relationship to a Special Strategic Partnership for Peace, Innovation & Prosperity, anchored by expanded military and economic cooperation agreements. As part of the deal, the two governments agreed to strengthen bilateral tourism ties, including rolling out joint tourism products and increasing overall travel volumes between the two countries.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Israeli diplomatic officials have repeatedly praised India’s consistent diplomatic support for Israel over the past two and a half years. India has declined to back South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), refused to join any international arms embargo on Israel, and has continued to supply critical military components to the Israeli military. A May 2025 Al Jazeera analysis of Israeli Tax Authority import data covering 2022 to 2025 found India is one of the top five suppliers of military-related goods to Israel following the ICJ’s January 2024 preliminary genocide ruling.