A judge in France has issued warrants for a pair of Franco-Israeli dual nationals to answer allegations of “complicity in genocide”.
The case stems from legal complaints made by two NGOs, the Jewish French Union for Peace (UFJP) and Lawyers for Justice in the Middle East (Capjo), in June last year.
The filings separately target two Israeli protest groups, Tzav 9 and Israel is Forever, whose activists have been involved in blocking the passage of humanitarian aid trucks in the Gaza Strip.
Announcing plans to impede aid convoys after the agreement of the latest ceasefire in October last year, Tzav 9 claimed that humanitarian supplies were being used by Hamas to fuel its war efforts and insisted no aid should be transferred until all the hostages were returned.
Its members have previously held up aid convoys by camping on roads at border crossings, and have looted and damaged aid, including setting fire to two trucks in the West Bank last year.
While it describes itself as non-partisan, it has long been accused of having ties to the Israeli far-right, including NGOs affiliated with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, per Axios.
According to Le Monde, the warrants targeted Israel is Forever founder Nili Kupfer-Naouri and another woman, named only as Rachel T, who works as a spokesperson for Tzav 9.
Kupfer-Naouri has since confirmed publicly that she is subject to a warrant, though in both cases this summons the respondents to appear before a magistrate and does not call for their arrests.
These warrants can be issued by a presiding judge and do not require approval from the National Anti-terrorism Prosecutor's Office, which handles counter-terror and war crime cases in France.
In an interview with The News, Kupfer-Naouri called the investigation “antisemitic madness”, adding: “The risk is that I won't be able to set foot in France anymore because I have no intention of going to French jail, whether in police custody or otherwise."
And Rachel T told Le Monde: “I note that French justice is quicker to deal with a complaint filed by a radical pro-Palestinian organisation than with those filed by Avocats Sans Frontières [Lawyers Without Borders] and the OJE [European Jewish Organisation] against apologies for terrorism made by LFI [La France Insoumise, a left-wing party] MPs.”
Lawyers for UFJP and Capjo reportedly told the French outlet that this is the first time a court in the country has indicated that the blocking of aid supplies could amount to “complicity in genocide”.
"These arrest summonses reflect the seriousness and reality of the reported facts. Complicity in genocide is not an abstract concept; these are very concrete and specific actions under investigation by the Central Office for Combating Crimes Against Humanity and Hate Crimes,” they said.
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