HRF Files War Crimes Complaint Against Itamar Ben Gvir with U.S. Department of Justice

27 June 2026 — The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has filed a request for prosecution to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) against Itamar Ben Gvir, the Israeli Minister of National Security, for his involvement in war crimes—including against U.S. nationals—acts of genocide, and direct incitement to genocide. The request was submitted ahead of Ben Gvir’s expected presence in New York City on 7-8 July.

As the Minister of National Security, Ben Gvir sets the policies for the Israeli police, the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), and the Israeli Firearm Licensing Department, among other departments. Since his appointment to the position in late 2022, Ben Gvir has used his authority to enact a policy of systematic torture, murder, abuse, and forced displacement across Occupied Palestine, and particularly within the IPS.

A Network of Torture Camps

From the moment Ben Gvir assumed his role as Minister of National Security, he has made it his explicit goal to worsen conditions for Palestinians detained in the Israel Prison Services (IPS). As he stated on 2 July 2024, “Since I took office as Minister of National Security, one of the top goals I set for myself was to worsen the conditions of terrorists in prisons and reduce their rights to the minimum required by law.”

This intention has translated into concrete policy measures and public praise for their implementation, establishing that the abusive conditions imposed on detainees were intended, authorized, and endorsed at the ministerial level. He detailed that he had significantly tightened prison conditions, eliminating what he described as “privileges” such as cash deposits, canteens, electrical appliances, exercise yards, extended showers, spokesperson status, and food he considered “luxury.”

Numerous Palestinians, international bodies, and NGOs, have reported that, under Ben Gvir’s leadership, the IPS has become a network of torture camps. Prisoners have been subjected to starvation, routine beatings, shackling, sleep deprivation, denial of medical care, electrocution, suspension, sexual violence, extremely tight handcuffing, and forced stress positions, among other methods.

Acts of sexual violence including forced nudity, including during interrogations; repeated strip searches; filming prisoners while nude; beating, pulling, kicking, or squeezing of the genitals; the threat of rape; the threat of rape to family members; and rape, sometimes in front of other detainees, have become routine.

This policy of torture—meted out on all detainees regardless of their judicial status—has also resulted in significant number of deaths, with at least 46 documented cases of Palestinians dying in IPS custody between October 2023 and August 2025.

Ben Gvir has personally participated in instances of torture and cruel or inhuman treatment in the prisons, frequently filming himself as he abuses prisoners.

Torture and Abuse of the Global Sumud Flotilla Participants

In both 2025 and 2026, hundreds of people of conscience from around the world sailed towards Gaza in order to break Israel’s criminal blockade and to bring necessary humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. In both cases, the flotilla’s were illegally boarded by Israeli soldiers in international waters and participants were illegally detained, abused, and tortured in the custody of Ben Gvir’s border police.

Participants describe being severely beaten and subjected to stress positions; being denied food, medicine, and water; being psychologically tortured; and, in a number of cases, being raped or sexually abused.

Again, Ben Gvir has filmed himself personally taking part in the torture and abuse of flotilla participants.

Both in 2025 and 2026 the flotilla’s were illegally boarded by Israeli soldiers in international waters and participants were illegally detained, abused, and tortured in the custody of Ben Gvir’s border police.

Genocidal policy and rhetoric

This policy of torture—which encompasses a series of war crimes—also constitutes the crime of genocide. Ben Gvir’s aim has been to try to break the Palestinian people through torture, abuse, and murder within the prisons, to destroy them as a people in whole or in part, fulfilling four of the six acts of genocide enumerated under the U.S. Genocide Statute.

Ben Gvir has also proudly committed incitement to genocide. He frequently uses his large public platform to cast the entire Palestinian people as enemies, and thus targetable by security forces; called for the forced displacement of all Palestinians from Gaza and for subsequent Israeli settlement; openly expressed his desire to execute Palestinian prisoners as well as Palestinians in Gaza; and repeatedly called for the forced starvation of Palestinians in Gaza as well as within IPS custody.

Ben Gvir’s genocidal statement are not limited to Occupied Palestine. Recently, on 19 June 2026, he publicly stated, “For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn!”

These statements are not mere rhetoric—they are direct incitement to genocide and have translated into concrete acts of genocide on the ground.

Ben Gvir has personally participated in instances of torture and cruel or inhuman treatment in the prisons, frequently filming himself as he abuses prisoners.

Legal Qualification of the Acts and Legal Action

Given Ben Gvir’s expected presence in the U.S. and given that a number of Ben Gvir’s victims have been U.S. nationals, HRF submitted that the US has both the jurisdiction and legal obligation to prosecute him for the following crimes under the U.S. War Crimes Act (18 U.S.C. § 2441)

1. Torture (18 U.S.C. §2441(d)(1)(A))
2. Cruel or inhuman treatment (18 U.S.C. §2441(d)(1)(B))
3. Murder (18 U.S.C. §2441(d)(1)(D))
4. Rape (18 U.S.C. §2441(d)(1)(G))
5. Sexual assault or abuse (18 U.S.C. §2441(d)(1)(H))

As well as the following crimes under the U.S. Genocide Statute (18 U.S.C. § 1091):

1. Killing members of the group (18 U.S.C. §1091(a)(1))
2. Causing serious bodily injury to the group (18 U.S.C. §1091(a)(2))
3. Causing the permanent impairment of the mental faculties of members of the group through drugs, torture, or similar techniques  (18 U.S.C. §1091(a)(3))
4. Subjecting the group to conditions of life that are intended to cause the physical destruction of the group in whole or in part (18 U.S.C. §1091(a)(4))
5. Incitement to genocide (18 U.S.C. §1091(c))

The available evidence is overwhelming: Ben Gvir has been one of the chief architects and champions oft he genocide against the Palestinian people. He is responsible for violating two of the most fundamental prohibitions—genocide and torture—in international law, and the United States has both the authority and obligation to investigate, prosecute, and punish him for these crimes. 

HRF requested that the U.S. Department of Justice:

1. Initiate a formal criminal investigation
2. Issue a warrant for the arrest of Itamar Ben Gvir or prevent him from leaving U.S. jurisdiction pending a full investigation into the crimes alleged in this urgent request
3. Commence proceedings in accordance with the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
4. Engage relevant immigration and national security agencies to ensure secure detention and judicial process
5. Fulfill the United States’ obligations under Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which mandates that States Parties: “shall be under the obligation to search for persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, such grave breaches, and shall bring such persons, regardless of their nationality, before its own courts.”

Jake Romm, HRF’s Representative in the United States, demanded action from the U.S. government:

“Itamar Ben Gvir is among the greatest criminals of our time—a man responsible for enacting a barbaric policy of murder, torture, rape, and abuse across the Israeli prison system; a man responsible for directly inciting genocide and issuing orders to ensure that it is carried out on the ground; a man for whom even the slaughter of the past two and a half years does not go far enough. Every state in the world, including the United States, has the obligation to arrest him and bring him to justice for his crimes. What’s more, Ben Gvir’s torture and abuse of U.S. citizens triggers the most basic sovereign duty: to protect one’s own nationals. ”

“This moment is a test: is this government more dedicated to Israeli impunity than it is to the rule of law? Is this government more dedicated to protecting war criminal and genocidaire Itamar Ben Gvir than it is to protecting its own citizens? History will record the answer.”

A Broader Strategy Against Impunity 

This filing forms part of HRF’s broader global strategy to activate domestic jurisdictions against individuals implicated in international crimes committed in Gaza. By combining investigative reporting with targeted legal action, HRF seeks to ensure that no individual responsible for or promoting such crimes be allowed to live freely without challenge.

The request filed in the United States reinforces a core principle: those who commit, justify, or promote international crimes must face legal consequences wherever they go.