The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has filed a request with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to initiate criminal proceedings against Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. The charges include war crimes, including those against U.S. citizens, genocide, and direct incitement to genocide. The request was filed ahead of Ben Gvir’s planned visit to New York on July 7-8.
As Minister of National Security, Ben Gvir sets policy for the Israel Police, the Israel Prison Service (IPS), and the Israeli Firearms Licensing Department, among other things. Since his appointment in late 2022, Ben Gvir has used his authority to implement a policy of systematic torture, murder, abuse, and forced displacement in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly within the confines of the IPS.
Network of torture camps
Since taking over as Minister of National Security, Ben Gvir has made it his stated goal to worsen the conditions of Palestinian prisoners in the Israel Prison Service. As he stated on July 2, 2024: „Since taking over as Minister of National Security, one of my most important goals has been to worsen the conditions of terrorists in prisons and reduce their rights to the minimum required by law.”
This intention was expressed in specific policy measures and public recognition of their implementation, which proves that the inhumane conditions imposed on prisoners were ordered, authorized and supported at the ministerial level. He detailed that he had significantly tightened prison conditions: he had eliminated what he called „privileges” such as cash deposits, canteens, electrical appliances, exercise yards, longer showering opportunities, spokesperson status, and food he considered „luxuries”.
Several Palestinians, international bodies and NGOs have reported that under Ben Gvir's leadership, the IPS became a network of torture camps. Prisoners were subjected to, among other things, starvation, routine beatings, handcuffing, sleep deprivation, denial of medical care, electroshock, hanging, sexual violence, extremely tight handcuffs and forced stress situations.
Sexual violence, including forced nudity (including during interrogations), repeated strip searches, filming of naked prisoners, beating, pulling, kicking or squeezing of the genitals, and threats of rape or rape of family members, became routine.
This torture policy – which is applied to all detainees, regardless of their legal status – has led to numerous deaths: between October 2023 and August 2025, at least 46 cases of Palestinian deaths in IPS custody were documented.
Ben Gvir personally participated in torture and cruel and inhumane treatment in prisons, often filming himself abusing prisoners.
Torture of Global Sumud Flotilla participants
In 2025 and 2026, hundreds of people of conscience from around the world sailed to Gaza to break Israel’s criminal blockade and deliver essential humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. In both cases, the flotillas were illegally intercepted by Israeli soldiers in international waters, and the participants were unlawfully detained, abused, and tortured in the custody of Ben Gvir’s border police forces. Participants reported severe beatings, forced use of stress situations, lack of food, medicine, and water, psychological torture, and even, in several cases, sexual rape. Ben Gvir again filmed himself personally participating in the torture of the flotilla participants.
Genocidal politics and rhetoric
This torture policy – which includes many war crimes – also exhausts the crime of genocide. Ben Gvir’s goal was to break the Palestinian people and destroy them in whole or in part through torture, abuse and murder within prisons, thereby fulfilling four of the six acts listed in the US genocide law.
Ben Gvir also proudly embraces incitement to genocide. He often uses his high profile to brand the entire Palestinian people as the enemy, thus making them targets for security forces; he has openly called for the forced displacement of all Palestinians from Gaza and their subsequent settlement in Israel; he has openly expressed his desire to execute Palestinian prisoners, as well as Palestinians in Gaza; and he has repeatedly called for the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza and in IPS custody.
Ben Gvir’s genocidal statements are not limited to occupied Palestine. As recently as June 19, 2026, he publicly declared: „For every teardrop shed by an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must cry. Lebanon must burn!” These statements are not just rhetoric – they constitute direct incitement to genocide and have translated into concrete acts of genocide on the ground.
Legal classification of acts and legal actions
Given Ben Gvir's likely US presence and the fact that several of his victims are US citizens, HRF submitted that the US has jurisdiction and a legal obligation to prosecute him under the US War Crimes Act (18 USC § 2441), including charges of torture, inhumane treatment, murder, rape and sexual assault.
Furthermore, under the US Genocide Act (18 USC § 1091), for the following: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily harm to the group; techniques causing permanent damage to the mental faculties of members of the group; inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part, in the group; and incitement to genocide.
The available evidence is overwhelming: Ben Gvir is a key architect and champion of the genocide against the Palestinian people. He is responsible for violating two of the most fundamental prohibitions of international law – genocide and torture.
HRF requested the following from the US Department of Justice:
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Initiation of formal criminal proceedings.
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Issuance of an arrest warrant for Itamar Ben Gvir or a ban on leaving the United States pending investigation.
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Initiate proceedings in accordance with the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
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Involvement of relevant immigration and national security agencies for safe detention and the judicial process.
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Fulfilling the United States' obligations under Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which requires States Parties to locate and bring to justice, regardless of their nationality, persons suspected of committing grave violations.
Jake Romm, HRF’s US representative, called on the US government to take action: „Itamar Ben Gvir is one of the greatest criminals of our time… Every state, including the United States, has a duty to arrest and hold him accountable. This moment is a test: is this government more committed to Israeli impunity than to the rule of law? History will record the answer.”
A broader strategy against impunity
This petition is part of HRF’s global strategy to activate national jurisdictions against individuals implicated in international crimes committed in Gaza. The goal is to ensure that no individual responsible for or promoting such crimes can live with impunity. The petition reaffirms the fundamental principle that those who commit, justify or promote international crimes must face legal consequences wherever they go.
