HRF Files Criminal Complaint in Italy Against Israeli Minister Idit Silman for Direct and Public Incitement to Genocide

10 September 2026 — Brussels, Belgium/Milan, Italy — The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has filed a criminal complaint in Italy against Idit Silman, Israel’s Minister of Environmental Protection, for direct and public incitement to commit genocide against the Palestinian population of Gaza.

Silman arrived in Italy on 6 September 2026 with her husband, Shmuel Silman.

HRF’s investigation documents a sustained and escalating campaign in which Silman has publicly called for the removal of Gaza’s Palestinian population, defended the deprivation of humanitarian assistance, denied the existence of the Palestinian people, and advocated Israeli settlement and permanent control over Palestinian territory. Her statements were made public repeatedly over a two-year period — at political rallies, in broadcast interviews, on social media, in parliamentary proceedings, and while exercising the authority of a serving cabinet minister.

A Public Campaign to Empty Gaza of its Palestinians

The central element of Silman’s public advocacy is her repeated call for the removal of Gaza’s Palestinian population.

At an ultranationalist rally in Jerusalem on 27 February 2025, Silman declared that “the only solution for Gaza was to empty Gaza of Gazans.” On 11 March 2025, she repeated the same call on Israel’s Reshet Bet radio, stating that “the only solution for the Gaza Strip is to empty it of Gazans,” describing the proposal as realistic and expressly contemplating that Gazans could be forced to leave.

These were not calls directed at Hamas fighters. They were calls directed at “Gazans” — the civilian population of Gaza as a whole.

Silman simultaneously described Gaza as territory Israel must ultimately possess. In the same interview, she invoked what she described as a divine mandate to “inherit the land” and stated that Israel must continue fighting because, “ultimately, we need to be here, and if we’re not here, then others will be here.”

The investigation finds that these statements establish the core of Silman’s position: Palestinians must disappear, and Israel must remain.

Supporting Starvation

Silman’s advocacy of population removal was accompanied by explicit support for measures depriving Gaza’s population of humanitarian assistance.

On 11 March 2025, Silman stated:

“We most definitely stopped humanitarian aid.”

She justified the decision by stating that providing humanitarian assistance to Palestinians while Israeli hostages remained in Gaza was “insane.”

The statement was made nine days after Israel had halted the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza while approximately two million Palestinians remained trapped in the territory — the overwhelming majority displaced from their homes.

Silman also signed a letter calling on the Israeli government to consider the Generals’ Plan, which proposed turning northern Gaza into a closed military zone, ordering civilians to leave, and cutting off food, water, fuel and other essential supplies to those who remained. The military control of the Netzarim Corridor subsequently divided Gaza into northern and southern areas and restricted movement and humanitarian access between them.

Denying that the Palestinian People Exist

In October 2024, Silman declared:

“There is simply no such thing as a Palestinian people.”

In May 2025, she stated that there was “no Palestinian people and therefore no Palestinian heritage sites.”

In September 2025, she referred to the “fake Palestinian people,” declaring there was “no history for such a people, no past, and no future.”

From Gaza to the Occupied West Bank

Silman’s statements concerning the occupied West Bank form a separate part of HRF’s assessment of her intent and broader political program.

In September 2024, speaking about Jenin, Nablus, and other Palestinian areas, she declared:

“We want our land back. Attack, and we will take back possession. We inherit. Inheritance from the Lord.”

In March 2025, she advocated applying Israeli sovereignty over “Judea and Samaria,” describing this as an appropriate response to the 7 October attacks.

In April 2025, she stated:

“Our role is to impose sovereignty.”

HRF Calls on Italy to Act

HRF has submitted the evidence in this case to the Italian authorities and has called for an immediate investigation into Silman’s conduct.

Dyab Abou Jahjah, Director General at HRF:

“Genocide does not begin with killing. It begins when a people is declared to have no right to exist, when its presence is portrayed as the problem, and when its removal is presented as the solution. Silman has done precisely that. She has publicly called for Gaza to be emptied of its Palestinians while embracing the seizure and settlement of their land. And, she has done so from her position in the Israeli Cabinet. Her office does not make these words less criminal; it makes them more grave. We are bringing this case to Italy because those who publicly call for the destruction of a people must know that the world is listening.”

Natacha Bracq, Head of Litigation at HRF: 

“Silman’s statements cannot be separated from the reality in which they were made. Thousands of Palestinians were subjected to displacement, siege, and the destruction of the conditions of civilian life, while a serving minister publicly called for Gaza to be emptied of its population and defending the withholding of humanitarian aid. The question before the Italian authorities is not whether these words are shocking. It is whether a government official who publicly advocates the elimination of a protected group can be held criminally accountable. That question demands an investigation, not impunity.”