HRF Files War Crimes Complaint in Germany Against Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for Crimes Committed in 2008-2009

Brussels / Berlin, 5 November 2025 —

The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a criminal complaint (Strafanzeige) in Germany against former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for war crimes committed during the 2008–2009 Israeli military offensive on Gaza, known as Operation “Cast Lead.” Ehud Olmert is scheduled to appear publicly in Berlin on 6 November 2025.

The complaint, submitted by German lawyer Melanie Schweizer, was filed simultaneously with the General Public Prosecutor’s Office in Berlin and the Federal Public Prosecutor General (Generalbundesanwalt) in Karlsruhe, which has jurisdiction over international crimes under Germany’s Code of Crimes against International Law (Völkerstrafgesetzbuch, VStGB).

A Palestinian boy in the rubble of his house, destroyed during Israel's Operation Cast Lead, northern Gaza Strip in 2008

Criminal Responsibility of Ehud Olmert

As Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, Ehud Olmert exercised ultimate political and military authority over all Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) operations, including the assault on Gaza launched on 27 December 2008.

Under Olmert’s leadership, the Israeli government and military high command executed a large-scale military campaign that resulted in the indiscriminate bombardment of densely populated civilian areas, the destruction of hospitals, schools, and UN facilities, and the killing of more than 1,300 Palestinians, among them over 300 children and 115 women. More than 5,000 people were injured and tens of thousands of homes were destroyed.

The Goldstone Report, the Amnesty International report “Operation Cast Lead: 22 Days of Death and Destruction”, and the Human Rights Watch report “Rain of Fire” documented a consistent pattern of deliberate or reckless targeting of civilians and civilian objects, the use of white phosphorus munitions in populated areas, and collective punishment of the entire Gaza population through the systematic destruction of vital infrastructure.

Under international law, political and military leaders bear command responsibility for war crimes committed by forces under their control when they knew or should have known of such crimes and failed to prevent or punish them. The complaint therefore holds Olmert personally responsible for the planning, authorization, and failure to restrain or prosecute these actions.

Ehud Olmert

Documented War Crimes During Operation Cast Lead

The HRF complaint outlines a catalogue of grave breaches of international humanitarian law, including but not limited to:

• Targeted and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in violation of Articles 51 and 52 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, corresponding to §§ 8 and 11 of the German VStGB.
• Use of white phosphorus munitions in densely populated areas such as Tel al-Hawa, Khuza’a, and Beit Lahiya, causing severe burns and civilian deaths.
• Destruction of homes, mosques, medical facilities, and UN schools sheltering displaced families, as in the Jabalya UNRWA school attack and the Al-Fakhoura school shelling.
• Extrajudicial killings and the shooting of civilians attempting to flee or waving white flags, including entire families such as the Al-Samouni family in the Zeitoun district.
• Denial of humanitarian access and obstruction of medical rescue operations, resulting in wounded civilians bleeding to death.
• Deliberate targeting of infrastructure essential to civilian survival, including water facilities, power stations, and food storage sites.

These actions, the complaint argues, constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under both customary international law and German law, which incorporates the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court through the VStGB.

Urgent Legal Action in Germany

The Hind Rajab Foundation’s legal filing requests the immediate initiation of a criminal investigation, the issuance of an arrest warrant, and a European Arrest Warrant against Olmert.

The complaint notes that Ehud Olmert is scheduled to appear publicly in Berlin on 6 November 2025 at the Haaretz Democracy Conference, hosted by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. The Foundation therefore calls on German authorities to act swiftly to prevent his departure and ensure he is held to account.

Universal Jurisdiction and the Fight Against Impunity

Germany’s Code of Crimes against International Law (VStGB), enacted in 2002, allows the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide even if committed abroad by foreign nationals. It has already enabled landmark cases against perpetrators from Syria and other conflict zones.

The Hind Rajab Foundation argues that the same legal principle must apply to Israeli officials responsible for crimes in Gaza.

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The victims of Gaza deserve justice, no matter how much time has passed,” said Dyab Abou Jahjah, General Director of the Hind Rajab Foundation. “Those responsible for war crimes must know that accountability has no expiration date and that the world is closing in on impunity.

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The Foundation stressed that it will not allow any war criminal to travel, pose, or speak anywhere as if they are above the law. Justice must be served — even decades after the crimes were committed.