Israeli soldiers during the ground operation in the Gaza Strip (Reuters)

The Media Part website said that MP Thomas Burr from the Proud France party has taken legal measures regarding the case of a French-Israeli citizen who may be complicit in acts of torture in the Gaza Strip, at a time when there is no longer any doubt that dual nationals fighting in the ranks of the Israeli army could be involved. In war crimes.

The site explained - in a report written by Justin Braban - that a 45-second video clip was filmed at night, showing 5 soldiers wearing Israeli military uniforms, dealing with prisoners, who took them off a truck while they were blindfolded and with their hands tied, and the man filming insulted them violently in French, saying: “Have you seen these bastards, my nephew, these sons of a bitch?”

Khan Younis, South Gaza |

“Here is Captain Loupy. He will take you to Gaza. We will massacre them! Massacre them! It will be great”

Israeli-french soldiers in southern Gaza pic.twitter.com/rGx9rRDtg2

—Younis Tirawi | Younis (@ytirawi) January 19, 2024

The speaker with the camera laughs in French in the clip as a shirtless prisoner appears, saying, "Look. He urinated on himself. I'll show you his back. You'll laugh. They tortured him to make him talk. Have you seen his back?", and in the next shot, the prisoner's back appears covered in scars.

The website indicated that other details in the clip confirm the context in which it was filmed, explaining that video clips showing Palestinian prisoners being subjected to public humiliation at the hands of Israeli soldiers are no longer rare since the start of Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip, but this video is unique in its kind because perhaps It was photographed by a French citizen fighting in the ranks of the occupation army.

Potential legal consequences

Thanks to the information available in open sources, and after exchanging information with many Israeli soldiers, it became clear that the Palestinian journalist Younis Al-Tirawi had recognized his photographer, (S.W.) from the city of Lyon, but a young man residing in Villeurbanne and answering by that name denied that he was the owner. the video.

French justice will take over the investigation soon - as the website says - after MP Thomas Burr referred the matter to the Paris Public Prosecutor and the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office, which includes a unit dedicated to crimes against humanity.

The MP warned of the "complicity in war crimes and acts of torture" that this video constitutes, calling on the judicial system to investigate the identity of the photographer.

The website noted that the Israeli army's communications services did not respond to its question about this video, but the French Foreign Ministry responded by saying, "This video is shocking and the behavior that appears in it is reprehensible."

The Foreign Ministry explained that "French justice is competent to look into crimes committed by French citizens abroad, including the current conflict."

But in order to understand why the French people could be responsible for war crimes in the Palestinian Strip, we must first understand how and why the French people can serve in the ranks of the Israeli army, as the writer says.

This special status - according to Media Part - is allowed thanks to the agreement signed in 1959 between France and Israel, as this text defines the military obligations of individuals holding dual nationalities, and stipulates that French-Israeli can be mobilized, regardless of their place of residence, by the Israeli army.

Although Thomas Bohr asked the Prime Minister to "immediately suspend" this agreement that allows dual citizens to serve in the Israeli army, this cannot be done immediately, because it stipulates a one-year notice before any conviction.

The French media estimates the number of dual nationals already fighting in the Israeli army today at “more than 4,000,” based on old information provided by the Israeli army to the Liberation newspaper in 2018, and the number is likely to be much higher.

Although the French Ministry of the Armed Forces confirmed that “no French soldier participated in the Gaza war,” the French executive authority seems embarrassed by the issue of these dual citizens. This may be because it expects scandals to occur, because observers following the war in Gaza have almost no doubt that The French people are involved in war crimes or crimes against humanity in the Palestinian Strip, because of the multiple ways that make a person “accomplice” in a war crime.

Source: Mediapart