HRF Files Criminal Complaint in Italy Against Israeli Soldier Yonatan Chalich Over Al-Shifa Hospital Attack and Other Crimes in Gaza

21 September 2026 — Brussels, Belgium / Rome, Italy - The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has filed a criminal complaint in Italy against Israeli soldier, Yonatan Chalich, for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide committed during the Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

Chalich is currently vacationing in Tuscany, Italy.

HRF’s investigation documents that Chalich may have been involved in three specific incidents during his deployment in Gaza between October 2023 and August 2024. His conduct includes participation in the siege and destruction of Al-Shifa Hospital in March-April 2024, the attack on the Haj Hamdi Harzallah mosque in late December 2023, and the destruction of Palestine Square in December 2023. The alleged acts occurred while Chalich served with the Tycoon Company of the Givati Shaked Battalion, under the 401st Armored Brigade.

The Attack on Al-Shifa Hospital

Following a two-week siege, Israeli forces stormed Al-Shifa Hospital in the northern Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City in March 2024, entering and occupying the medical complex during a major military operation that caused extensive destruction, leaving the facility non-functional and in ruins. A subsequent assessment by the World Health Organization (WHO) documented extensive destruction, including damage to the emergency department, surgical wards and oxygen plants, as well as the destruction of 14 incubators in the neonatal intensive care unit. Three mass graves were later discovered in the hospital courtyards, containing at least 80 bodies. Chalich personally documented his presence inside Al-Shifa Hospital during the attack.

'Israeli forces left behind a wasteland of destroyed buildings and Palestinian bodies scattered in the dirt at al-Shifa Hospital' (© MEE/Mohammed al-Hajjar)

The Burning of the Haj Hamdi Harzallah Mosque

Photographs from late December 2023 show members of the Tycoon Company inside the Haj Hamdi Harzallah mosque in Gaza City’s al-Nasr neighborhood after taking control of it, waving a Palestinian flag. The mosque was subsequently set ablaze, with additional images showing Tycoon soldiers posing and smiling inside the burning building as flames engulfed it. Chalich was deployed with his company in Gaza City at the time of the incident.

Evidence further indicates that the mosque was not being used by Palestinian forces at the time of its destruction and was instead under the full military control of Israeli forces. The attack may constitute the unlawful targeting of a protected place of worship and forms part of a documented pattern of systematic attacks on mosques and other religious sites across Gaza, in violation of international humanitarian law.

Members of the Tycoon Company documenting themselves inside the burning mosque, Gaza City, late December 2023.

The Destruction of Palestine Square

On 5 December 2023, Israeli forces took control of Palestine Square, the commercial heart of the Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City. Over the following weeks, they systematically destroyed the civilian district surrounding the square, first with tanks, bulldozers, and fire, and later through the controlled demolition of the remaining buildings left standing. An Israeli flag and a Hanukkah display were erected over the ruins of what had once been a densely populated civilian district including homes, shops, government buildings, and a school for deaf children.

HRF’s investigation reveals the Tycoon Company was actively involved in these operations and that Chalich was deployed with the company in Gaza City at that time. During this period, the Tycoon Company and its members posted photographs of Palestine Square in ruins, celebrating their role in the devastation.

Using tanks, bulldozers, fire, and controlled demolitions, Israeli forces systematically destroyed Palestine Square—once the commercial heart of Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood—in December 2023.

HRF Calls on Italy to Act

HRF has filed a complaint with Italian authorities and is calling for an immediate investigation into Chalich’s conduct.

Dyab Abou Jahjah, Director General at HRF: 

“Italy, and Tuscany in particular, is a place where solidarity with Palestine runs deep and where the demand for justice has been heard loudly. Its people should not see their land turned into a safe haven for those who destroyed Gaza and committed genocide against its people. There can be no holiday from accountability. If the evidence follows you from Gaza to Tuscany, justice must follow too.”

Natacha Bracq, Head of Litigation at HRF: 

“HRF has filed several complaints in Italy concerning Israeli war crimes, yet Italian authorities have taken no action, in clear breach of Italy’s legal obligations to investigate under the Geneva and Genocide Conventions. By allowing individuals suspected of war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people to vacation freely on its territory, Italy is failing in its duty to enforce international law and to prevent and punish genocide.”