{"id":12612,"date":"2026-02-18T12:01:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T12:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12612"},"modified":"2026-02-18T12:01:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T12:01:50","slug":"israeli-army-sniper-in-chile-accused-of-gaza-war-crimes-could-face-justice-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12612","title":{"rendered":"Israeli army sniper in Chile accused of Gaza war crimes could face justice | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Rom Kovtun\u2019s own social media posts reveal he was holidaying in the country, opening the door to \u2018universal jurisdiction\u2019 legal jeopardy.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">3 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"byline byline--single-avatar\">\n<div class=\"avatars-container\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2017-06-08T131939Z_1189275883_RC11B0FE7F20_RTRMADP_3_GULF-QATAR-JAZEERA-1714943623.jpg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 96px) 96px, 96px\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 18 Feb 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">18 Feb 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>A Chilean court is considering a criminal complaint against a former Israeli army sniper who served in Gaza during Israel\u2019s more than two-year-long genocide on the coastal enclave and the Palestinian people.<\/p>\n<p>Rom Kovtun\u2019s own social media posts revealed he was holidaying in the country, opening the door to what legal experts call \u201cuniversal jurisdiction\u201d. Kovtun, an Israeli-Ukrainian, served as a sniper in Israel\u2019s 424th Shaked Battalion in Gaza.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Al Jazeera\u2019s Lucia Newman, reporting from Santiago, said images posted online show Kovtun swimming in a lake in south-central Chile with other former Israeli soldiers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis knack for posting leisure and wartime escapades on Instagram is what allowed the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) to file a criminal complaint in Chile, accusing him of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>The Belgium-based HRF is named after a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza in January 2024, and whose case drew global attention to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>The HRF has assembled a global team of lawyers and activists to build legal cases, drawing mainly on social media posts published by Israeli soldiers themselves.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"universal-jurisdiction\">Universal jurisdiction<\/h2>\n<p>Chile\u2019s domestic law incorporates the International Criminal Court\u2019s (ICC) Rome Statute, enabling courts to exercise universal jurisdiction in certain cases, Pablo Andres Araya, a lawyer with HRF, said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis applies when it\u2019s clear that the person accused of these crimes will not be tried in his or her country of origin,\u201d Araya told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd there\u2019s no question that soldiers who\u2019ve committed atrocities in Gaza will not be tried by [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Al Jazeera\u2019s Newman reported that Kovtun laid siege to the enclave\u2019s largest hospital, al-Shifa, between March and April 2024, allegedly playing a key role in the mass death of civilians and destruction that ensued.<\/p>\n<p>The siege denied water, food, medicine and electricity to all those inside, leading to the death of an estimated 500 doctors, nurses and patients, including newborn babies.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"no-longer-welcome\">\u2018No longer welcome\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cChile is a favourite holiday destination for Israeli soldiers who\u2019ve completed their military service,\u201d Newman said. \u201cBut they\u2019re no longer as welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The South American nation is home to the largest Palestinian diaspora outside of the Middle East, and Chileans in general are seen as sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, Newman noted that none of it would have \u201cany bearing on the case\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a purely legal, complex judicial issue that could take time, enough time to allow the former Israeli sniper to be long gone,\u201d Newman added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rom Kovtun\u2019s own social media posts reveal he was holidaying in the country, opening the door to \u2018universal jurisdiction\u2019 legal jeopardy. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a03 mins info Published On 18 Feb 202618 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share A Chilean court is considering a criminal complaint against a former Israeli [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}