Inside the Ruins of Justice: The Case Against Sergeant Shmuel Assouline in Amsterdam

Amsterdam, 15 May 2026 – The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has lodged a complaint with the Dutch Public Prosecution Service to initiate immediate criminal proceedings against Shmuel Assouline, an Israeli soldier currently located in Amsterdam. Represented by solicitor Haroon Raza, HRF alleges that Assouline, a Sergeant in the 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion of the 900th "Kfir" Brigade, bears individual criminal responsibility for the destruction of civilian objects carried out during the military campaign in Gaza.

A Soldier Inside the Courthouse: Documented Presence, Undeniable Complicity

The investigation establishes that between 2023 and 2025, Shmuel Assouline served as a Sergeant in the Zion Company of the 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion, an ultra-Orthodox infantry unit with a well-documented record of extremism and abuse. Crucially, Assouline placed himself inside the building and broadcast it to the world.

On 24 January 2024, Assouline published an Instagram album from Gaza containing two videos. The first shows his Company inside Gaza's Supreme Court building — the Palace of Justice. In the video, a voice can be heard saying: "Guys, Zion Company, squad commanders' course, of the Haredi companies in the IDF, of the Haredi battalions, Netzah Yehuda, no one will stop us. We will get to their court; we will get to their prison, we will get to their homes. Wherever necessary, we will get there. We are everywhere. Go Zion!" The second video depicts a controlled demolition — a building brought down by explosive charges in a calculated, deliberate act of destruction.

Assouline stood inside the Palace of Justice, filmed himself and his unit occupying it, and then published footage of a controlled demolition in the same post. The Palace of Justice — a seven-story, 10,000-square-meter complex inaugurated in 2018 with Qatari funding, housing the Supreme Judicial Council, the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the Court of Reconciliation, and irreplaceable legal archives — was completely demolished by the Israeli army between 20 November and 4 December 2023 using controlled explosive charges. The Israeli military itself released professional video footage of the building's complete destruction on 4 December 2023.

Whether Assouline  himself directly carried out the destruction or was only an accessory is a question for criminal investigation. What is established is that he was physically present at the scene, that he publicly celebrated his unit's penetration of the building, and that he served in the very battalion that carried out multiple controlled demolitions across Gaza.

A Battalion Built on Impunity

The 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion is not a routine military formation. Created to enable ultra-Orthodox Jewish men to serve in the Israeli army, it has attracted members of the "Hilltop Youth," an extremist settler network known for violent attacks against Palestinians. Its record of criminal conduct is extensive and well-documented:

• In January 2022, 78-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Assad was detained by Netzah Yehuda soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint, bound, gagged, and abandoned overnight. He was found dead the following morning. The IDF acknowledged "moral failure" but pursued no criminal prosecution.
• The battalion's abuses triggered a Leahy Law investigation by the US State Department, which examined several allegations of killings, beatings, and other gross violations. Sanctions were considered but dropped following Israeli political pressure.
• In August 2025, video emerged of battalion members dancing and singing about flattening Gaza.
• Soldiers from the battalion have posted genocidal rhetoric online, including declarations of "No forgiveness. No mercy. Only death judgment to you damned Gazans. Until the last one of you" and calls for starvation of the population.
• In April 2026, the battalion's activities in the West Bank were suspended after its soldiers attacked and detained CNN journalists.

Despite this record, the Israeli army awarded the battalion a special commendation for its role in the war in September 2025. Assouline served within this formation during its deployment to Northern Gaza from mid-November 2023 through at least December 2023 — the precise window during which the Palace of Justice was seized, occupied, and destroyed.

The Weight of the Law: Civilian Objects Are Not Targets

The complaint filed with Dutch authorities invokes the International Crimes Act (WIM), which incorporates the Rome Statute into Dutch domestic law. The filing asserts that the destruction of the Palace of Justice constitutes:

• Extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity — Article 8(2)(a)(iv) of the Rome Statute.
• Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects — Article 8(2)(b)(ii).
• Attacking or bombarding undefended buildings which are not military objectives — Article 8(2)(b)(v).

The Palace of Justice was a civilian object serving the essential function of administering justice. Its only function was civilian judicial administration, not military activity. The Israeli army's claim that the building constituted "Hamas infrastructure" fundamentally misrepresents the legal reality: a governing authority's civilian judicial institutions do not become military objectives by virtue of being operated by the de facto administration. Further, the building had been under Israeli military control since 20 November 2023. The Palace of Justice was unequivocally a civilian object. Its destruction was deliberate, planned, and professionally documented by the Israeli military itself.

Furthermore, the complaint argues that these acts must be investigated as Crimes Against Humanity under Article 4 of the WIM, including the persecution of the Palestinian civilian population as a national or ethnic group. The destruction of the Palace of Justice formed part of a broader, systematic campaign to dismantle Palestinian governance infrastructure — alongside the destruction of the Palestine Bar Association headquarters, the legislative building, universities, and schools. UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing Balakrishnan Rajagopal condemned the bombing, stating: "This wanton destruction is of not just Gaza but the idea of any justice or law."

Insofar as the destruction of civilian judicial and administrative infrastructure forms part of a broader pattern aimed at imposing living conditions intended to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinian population in Gaza, the facts must also be investigated as genocide under Article 3 of the WIM — a determination supported by the International Court of Justice's finding that there is a plausible risk of genocide, and by the growing consensus of international legal experts, UN bodies, and human rights organisations.

Voices from the Foundation

Dyab Abou Jahjah, General Director of the Hind Rajab Foundation, framed the complaint as a confrontation with the very logic of erasure:

“A man who stood inside Gaza's highest court and declared 'we will get to their court, we will get to their homes' is not a bystander. He is a participant in the demolition of a people's right to exist under law. That he now walks freely in Amsterdam — a city that has historically sheltered those fleeing persecution — is an inversion of justice that should alarm every institution tasked with upholding the international legal order. The Netherlands did not sign the Geneva Conventions to look away when the evidence arrives on its doorstep. Assouline's own camera has done half our work. The question now is whether Dutch authorities will do the rest.”

Natacha Bracq, Head of Litigation at HRF, emphasised the evidentiary clarity of the filing:

“Sergeant Assouline filmed himself inside the Palace of Justice. He narrated his unit's conquest of the building. He published footage of controlled demolitions in the same post. His own statements — 'no one will stop us,' 'we are everywhere' — reflect active identification with the campaign of destruction. The legal threshold for initiating a criminal investigation has been decisively met. What remains is for Dutch authorities to act on the evidence before them and secure this individual before the opportunity passes.”

Shmuel Assouline posing in front of the rubble of a destroyed building in Gaza

Demands and the Road Ahead

HRF calls upon the Dutch authorities to take the following immediate actions:

• Launch a Formal Investigation: Open a comprehensive criminal investigation into his potential role as perpetrator, co-perpetrator, or accomplice in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
• Issue an Arrest Warrant: Immediately issue a warrant for the arrest of Shmuel Assouline, under Article 27(1) of the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure.
• Detain the Suspect: Secure Assouline's physical custody to prevent flight from Dutch territory — whether via Schiphol Airport or through a general alert.
• Preserve Digital Evidence: Seize and secure all mobile phones, communications, and social media accounts belonging to Assouline, which contain critical evidence of his activities, statements, and operational involvement.
• Cooperate Internationally: Share relevant evidence with the International Criminal Court and coordinate with other jurisdictions where similar complaints have been filed.

This filing is the latest in HRF's expanding global litigation strategy, which has produced over 90 criminal complaints across 30 jurisdictions — including successful procedural outcomes in Brazil, Romania, Peru, Belgium, and Canada. The Foundation will not relent in its pursuit of accountability. The evidence in this case is not abstract. It was recorded, published, and preserved by the suspect himself. The Netherlands now holds both the suspect and the obligation to act. Impunity is not inevitable — it is a choice, and the time to choose differently is now.