HRF Files New Elements In The Case Against Yehuda Vach: The Executioner of Gaza

Netanyahu and Vach

On 8 February 2025, the Hind Rajab Foundation submitted a formal complaint to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Brigadier General Yehuda Vach. Today, the Foundation has formally updated the case with new evidence and legal analysis, transmitting a detailed annex to the ICC and expanding its requests for prosecution.

Yehuda Vach is not merely another Israeli military officer. He is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most loyal and lethal asset in Gaza—the man entrusted to carry out the will of a government that has embraced openly genocidal policies against the Palestinian people.

The initial filing of the HRF focused on Vach’s command responsibility in the establishment and enforcement of an unlawful “kill zone” in the Netzarim Corridor, Gaza. This zone was characterized by the deliberate targeting of civilians—particularly children—by sniper teams and mobile armored patrols operating with impunity under Vach’s orders.

The complaint was based on powers of attorney obtained from the families of two Palestinian children who were summarily executed by Vach’s troops. The evidence included geolocated video footage, survivor testimonies, intercepted communications, and corroborated patterns of conduct by the division under his control.
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Since the submission of this complaint, the Foundation has gathered substantial new evidence establishing Brigadier General Vach’s direct and indirect responsibility for a series of additional atrocities, including:

• The demolition of the Turkish–Palestinian Friendship Hospital on 21 March 2025, constituting a serious violation of Article 8(2)(b)(ix) of the Rome Statute.
• The Tel Sultan massacre on 23 March 2025, during which IDF forces under Vach’s command executed 15 humanitarian personnel, including members of the Palestinian Red Crescent, United Nations staff, and civil defense medics—clear violations of the protections afforded under international law to humanitarian actors.
• The systematic killing of civilians at humanitarian aid distribution points in May and June 2025, where hundreds of Palestinians were fatally shot while queuing for food. Testimonies from IDF personnel and open-source video documentation demonstrate that these attacks were not the result of battlefield confusion, but the product of operational orders to treat civilians in these zones as combatants.

Together, these actions form a consistent pattern of conduct, substantiating Brig. Gen. Vach’s role as a central operational architect of the Gaza campaign’s most serious violations of the laws of war. His directives—widely quoted among troops as asserting that “there are no innocents in Gaza”—reflect not merely criminal dereliction but active participation in a policy of collective punishment and extermination.

It must also be emphasized that Brig. Gen. Vach has operated with the full political protection of Israel’s civilian leadership. His actions align directly with the strategic objectives and rhetoric of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his field role in implementing such policy renders him Netanyahu’s primary enforcer of state criminality in Gaza.

And he is not acting alone. His brothers, Colonel Golan Vach and Captain Elishav Vach, are also deeply implicated in war crimes and abuses. The three brothers form a militarized faction operating with political protection from Netanyahu’s office. Together, they have built what human rights observers now call Israel’s “first family of genocide.”

Legal Implications and Call to Action

In light of the cumulative and expanding body of evidence, the Hind Rajab Foundation today submitted an updated annex to its complaint and formally called on the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC to:

1. Initiate the necessary procedures for the issuance of arrest warrants against Brigadier General Yehuda Vach, Colonel Golan Vach, and Captain Elishav Vach, in accordance with Articles 58 and 25 of the Rome Statute.
2. Recognize these individuals as central figures in the field implementation of a broader state-sponsored policy of systematic and widespread attacks against the civilian population of Gaza, as defined under Article 7 of the Rome Statute.
3. Consider their actions within the framework of genocidal intent, pursuant to Article 6 of the Rome Statute and customary international law.

Yehuda Vach is not just another war criminal—he is Benjamin Netanyahu’s executioner in Gaza.
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The Hind Rajab Foundation is compiling the full criminal file of Yehuda Vach and his brothers--every name, every order, every victim. Our team is preparing further filings before national jurisdictions.

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