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Israel has warned its forces not to publicize its actions in Gaza on social media, after a Brazilian court asked police to investigate an Israeli soldier visiting the country accused of participating in war crimes.

The action, initiated by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a pro-Palestinian group, was based in part on video and photographic footage that the Hind Rajab Foundation claimed showed the soldier participating in the demolition of homes in Gaza.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that officials from the embassy in Brazil immediately helped the man leave the country without being arrested.

The ministry added: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs draws the attention of Israelis to posts on social media about their military service, and that anti-Israel elements may exploit these posts to initiate futile legal proceedings against them.”

The Brussels-based human rights organization praised the decision by Brazil’s Federal Court to recognize jurisdiction over the matter as “groundbreaking” and order urgent police action.

“This is a historic moment,” said Diab Abu Jahjah, president of the Human Rights Foundation. “It sets a strong precedent for countries to take bold action to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable.”

The incident is the latest example of the legal ramifications of the Israeli attack on Gaza, which has claimed more than 45,800 lives so far, according to Palestinian officials, turned much of the territory into uninhabitable rubble and led to a humanitarian catastrophe.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of… ‘A major political failure’ During the incident, arguing that establishing an official commission to investigate the war — which Netanyahu resisted — would have helped avoid such legal proceedings.

He asked, “How did we reach the point where the Palestinians became better than the Israeli government on the international scene?” Written on X.

Israel launched its attack on Gaza in response to a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, during which the militants killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, and took 250 hostage.

The United Nations Supreme Court is hearing a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Israel has strongly rejected the genocide allegations and described the South African case as “extremely distorted.” Israel says its forces in Gaza are operating in accordance with international law, and Netanyahu’s office rejected the arrest warrants, calling them “anti-Semitic.”

Abu Jahjah said the human rights organization had submitted to the International Criminal Court evidence against about 1,000 Israeli soldiers to help strengthen its case against Israeli leaders.

He added that the organization also prepared a list of the names of soldiers suspected of involvement in war crimes and monitored their movements through their posts on social media sites.

Abu Jahjah said: “We knew that he was in Brazil the moment he entered, and we filed a 400-page file against him just three days later.” He added: “We are not targeting all Israeli soldiers, but only those suspected of committing war crimes.”

He added that they were collecting evidence about alleged violations of international law that “begin with entering homes, looting and destroying property and moving to demolishing entire neighborhoods, including hospitals, civilian infrastructure and places of worship.”

He added: “There is also killing people, kidnapping people, torturing them, and taking pictures with prisoners.”

The human rights organization also filed complaints about war crimes against dozens of Israeli soldiers who hold dual citizenship from countries including Belgium, France and the Netherlands, with the aim of sparking prosecutions there.

Abu Jahjah said that some of these cases are still in the early investigation stage, while others have been rejected by national judicial authorities and are being appealed by a human rights organization. “We are optimistic about the cases in Belgium,” he said.