By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2025-01-05 21:55:06 | Updated at 2025-01-07 12:06:58
1 day ago
An Israeli Defense Forces soldier, who survived Hamas’s attack on the Supernova festival on Oct. 7, was forced to flee Brazil after the nation opened a war crimes investigation against him amid growing backlash over the Gaza war, according to local reports.
Yuval Vagdani was on vacation in Brazil with his family when reports emerged over the weekend naming him as a suspect who helped level “a residential building in the Gaza Strip while using explosives outside of combat,” the Brazilian Metrópoles reports.
Israel’s Foreign Ministers’ Office said it helped facilitate Vagdani and his family’s “swift and safe departure from Brazil,” according to Israel’s Army Radio, with Minister Gideon Sa’ar slamming Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as an antisemite.
The Hind Rajab Foundation, a group seeking accountability against the Israeli military for the ongoing conflict, accused Vagdani of taking part in a November explosion that decimated refugee shelters in Gaza.
The group claims it has verified footage showing Vagdani “planting explosives and participating in the destruction of entire neighborhoods,” all while acting of his own accord and not as a result of orders he received.
“This individual actively contributed to the destruction of homes and livelihoods, and his own statements and behavior clearly align with the genocidal objectives in Gaza,” the HRF said in a statement.
The group called on Brazilian authorities to arrest Vagdani on Saturday night, claiming they had a tip that Israeli officials were working to help the IDF soldier escape the country.
Vagdani’s father told Channel 12 that his son had successfully escaped Brazil, but he has not heard from his son and his family since.
“I believe they will find their way home safely, but we need to make sure they know the truth about the soldier. He is not a suspect. He is a soldier who’s been through hell,” the father told the outlet.
Vagdani was attending the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed more than 1,200 people, with the rave being one of the bloodiest sites of the attack.
More than 360 people were killed at the desert festival, with Vagdani surviving after he and others ran for miles while dodging Hamas gunfire.
Vagdani’s case is just one of allegedly 12 investigations being opened around the world targeting IDF soldiers over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Sa’ar’s office is looking into a dozen cases that have been opened in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Belgium, the Netherlands, Serbia, Ireland, and Cyprus, according to Israeli outlets.
The investigations come less than two months after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant over the alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.
