The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has filed an urgent arrest warrant against Israeli reservist Eitan Gilboa, who is holidaying in India and is accused of carrying out and celebrating systematic demolitions in Gaza.
HRF raised the urgent complaint with the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, the Bureau of Immigration of India and the police, calling on them to arrest Gilboa after mounting evidence collected by them shows him taking part in acts that constitute war crimes.
Gilboa, a reservist in the 271st Combat Engineering Battalion, was born in Gaza during the Israeli occupation, but left after Israel withdrew.
When Israel launched its war on Gaza in 2023, he returned with some of his siblings and shared photographs of himself recreating moments from his early years in the besieged Strip.
He has also captured photographs and videos of himself celebrating the demolitions and ordering for civilian homes in Khan Younis to be flattened, content that was later shared on social media sites by his mother.
According to HRF, Gilboa’s acts violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which India is legally obligated to as a signatory. Article 146 of the Convention states that India is legally obligated to search for and prosecute anyone alleged to have committed grave breaches.
The comprehensive investigation and evidence submitted by HRF contain geolocated videos and social media posts, some of which show Gilboa ordering demolitions of multiple buildings and dedicating them to Israeli army commanders killed.
In Khan Younis in 2024, evidence gathered shows Gilboa and his unit detonating a residential area before dedicating it to the families of the battalion and brigade.
In one video, Gilboa is standing beside Commander Yossi Edri, with the latter making genocidal remarks, including: “We convey a clear message from here to Hamas, to the Strip, and to anyone who has risen or will rise against us: We will find you, we will reach you, and we will leave behind only ash and dust”.
Edri also says: “The next detonation—is for the families of the battalion and the brigade… All stations, this is Commander Akrai. Our statue [blast] in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…”
Dyab Abou Jahjah, the general director of the HRF, said in a statement that India must act immediately to arrest him and not allow the country to be a “safe haven for those who celebrate the destruction of civilian lives”.
“Eitan Gilboa is not a tourist. He is a war criminal currently enjoying the hospitality of India while fleeing the consequences of his crimes,” he said.
The head of litigation at HRF, Natacha Bracq, also stressed that Gilboa’s actions constitute the legal definitions of war crimes under Indian law.
“Under the Geneva Conventions Act, India has the power and the duty to arrest and prosecute Eitan Gilboa. The ‘Hummus Trail’ – or these extended trips that IDF soldiers take to decompress after military duties – cannot become a route for impunity. If India fails to act, it becomes complicit in the cycle of atrocities and impunity,” Bracq said.