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A dramatic escape was cited by Israeli media as the way that Yuval Vagdani, a soldier in the Israeli army, to escape justice in Brazil. Vagdani was accused by a Palestinian advocacy group, the Hind Rajab Foundation, of carrying out well-documented crimes in Gaza.

He is not the only Israeli soldier being for similar crimes. According to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, more than 50 Israeli soldiers are in countries ranging from South Africa to Sri Lanka and Sweden.

In one case, the Hind Rajab Foundation filed a in a Swedish court against Boaz Ben David, an Israeli sniper from the 932 Battalion of the Nahal Brigade. He is also accused of committing war crimes in Gaza.

The Nahal Brigade has been at the heart of numerous war crimes in Gaza. Established in 1982, it is for its unhinged violence against occupied Palestinians. But the brigade’s role in the latest genocidal atrocities in the Strip has far exceeded its dark past.

Even if these 50 or so individuals are apprehended and sentenced, the price exacted on the Israeli army pales in comparison to the crimes it has carried out.

Numbers, though helpful, are rarely enough to convey collective pain. Medical journal The Lancet’s latest is still worthy of reflection. Using a new data collection method called capture-recapture analysis, the report indicates that, in the first nine months of the war between October 2023 and June 2024, 64,260 Palestinians were killed.

Capturing and trying Israeli war criminals is not just about the fate of these individuals. It is about accountability

Dr. Ramzy Baroud

Still, capturing and trying Israeli war criminals is not just about the fate of these individuals. It is about accountability — something that is absent from the history of Israeli human rights violations, war crimes and recurring genocides against Palestinians.

The Israeli government understands that the issue now goes beyond individuals. It is about the loss of Israel’s historic status as a country that stands above the law.

As a result, the Israeli army last week that it has decided not to publicly reveal the names of soldiers involved in the Gaza war and genocide, fearing prosecution in international courts.

However, this step is unlikely to make much difference for two reasons. First, numerous pieces of evidence against individual soldiers, whose identities are publicly known, have already been gathered or are available for future investigation. Second, much of the documentation of war crimes has been unwittingly by Israeli soldiers themselves.

Reassured about the lack of accountability, Israeli soldiers have posted countless pieces of footage showing the abuse and torture of Palestinians in Gaza. This self-indictment will likely serve as a major body of evidence in future trials.

This cannot be viewed separately from the ongoing investigation into the Israeli genocide in Gaza by the International Court of Justice. Additionally, arrest warrants have been issued by the International Criminal Court against top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Though these cases have moved slowly, they have set a precedent that even Israel is not immune to some measure of international accountability and justice.

Moreover, these cases have granted countries that are signatories to these two world courts the authority to investigate individual war crimes cases filed by human rights and legal advocacy groups.

Though the Hind Rajab Foundation is not the only group pursuing Israeli war criminals globally, the group’s name derives from a five-year-old Palestinian girl from Gaza who was by the Israeli army in January 2024, along with her family. This tragedy is a reminder that the death of innocent Palestinians will not be in vain.

Though justice may be delayed, as long as there are pursuers, it will someday be attained.

Israeli soldiers have posted countless pieces of footage showing the abuse and torture of Palestinians in Gaza

Dr. Ramzy Baroud

Pursuing alleged Israeli war criminals in international and national courts is just the start of a process of accountability that will last many years. With every case, Israel will learn that the decades of US vetoes and blind Western protection and support will no longer suffice.

It was the West’s shameless shielding of Israel throughout the years that allowed Israeli leaders to behave as they saw fit for Israel’s so-called national security — even if it meant the of the Palestinian people, as is the case today in Gaza.

Still, Western governments, including the US and UK, continue to treat wanted Israelis as sanctified heroes — not war criminals. This goes beyond accusations of double standards. It is the highest immorality and disregard for international law.

Things need to change; in fact, they are already changing.

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, Tel Aviv has learned many difficult lessons. For example, its army is no longer “invincible,” its economy is relatively small and highly dependent and its political system is fragile. In times of crisis, it is barely operable.

It is time for Israel to learn yet another lesson: that the age of accountability has begun. Dancing round the corpses of dead Palestinians in Gaza is no longer an amusing social media post, as Israeli soldiers once thought.

• Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and author. He is editor of The Palestine Chronicle and nonresident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappe, is “Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out.” X: @RamzyBaroud