AhlulBayt News Agency: For the first time, the Israeli occupation military has released detailed official data on soldiers who hold foreign citizenship alongside Israeli nationality, according to the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
The newly published figures show that 50,632 soldiers serving in the Israeli army possess at least one additional foreign nationality.
According to the data, 12,135 soldiers hold US citizenship—the largest group by far—followed by more than 6,100 French nationals and over 5,000 Russian nationals.
The list also includes thousands of recruits from Germany, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Romania, Poland, Canada, and several Latin American countries.
The diversity extends beyond Western states, with the data also revealing limited numbers of soldiers holding Arab nationalities, including Yemen, Tunisia, Lebanon, Syria, and Algeria.
The figures further show that 4,440 soldiers hold two foreign nationalities in addition to Israeli citizenship, while 162 soldiers possess three or more foreign citizenships.
Since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, the army has relied heavily on tens of thousands of dual‑ and multi‑national soldiers in its operations.
The involvement of foreign nationals has triggered legal scrutiny abroad under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows national courts to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes regardless of where the crimes occurred.
Major international organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have called for independent investigations and urged Western governments to uphold their legal obligations regarding citizens allegedly involved in violations.
Legal and civil initiatives have already begun in several countries. In Canada, federal police have reportedly opened investigations into suspected war crimes involving dual‑national reservists.
In Belgium and the United Kingdom, human rights groups have filed complaints with the International Criminal Court and domestic authorities targeting hundreds of soldiers, including those holding European citizenship.
Legal experts note that some foreign nationals serving in the Israeli army—such as British citizens—may face exposure under domestic laws like the UK’s Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870, which restricts citizens from fighting for certain foreign states.
Britain’s recent recognition of a Palestinian state may further complicate the legal status of such service.
Following the International Court of Justice’s January 2024 warning of a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, some legal analysts argue that states may now be obligated to investigate whether their nationals were involved in violations of international law.
Israel’s two‑year genocide in Gaza resulted in more than 72,000 Palestinians martyred, over 171,000 injured, and the destruction of roughly 90 percent of the Strip’s civilian infrastructure.
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