Israeli Military Attaché in Belgium Accused of Being Key Figure in Gaza ‘Famine Strategy’

Photo Credit: COGAT

Lieutenant Colonel Moshe Tetro, formerly Head of the Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) for Gaza, may 6, 2020.

De Morgen, a Flemish newspaper published in Antwerp, Belgium, on Tuesday, reported that the new military attaché at the Israeli embassy in Belgium was in charge of the access to humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, noting, “It is precisely this provisioning that is central to the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu.”

The 43-year-old Moshe Tetro was appointed as Israeli military attaché in Brussels this summer. The Israeli embassy and the Belgian government’s Foreign Affairs Department confirmed this to De Morgen, which noted that the IDF Colonel was previously in charge of the unit that monitored the flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

The military attaché enjoys diplomatic immunity in Belgium.

“Tetro managed the various border crossings while denying in the international media that there was famine and a shortage of medicine and water. His statements were in contrast to the repeated warnings from the UN,” De Morgen reported.

“He was also the IDF’s liaison with hospitals in Gaza. For example, he had the neonatology department of Al Shifa Hospital evacuated because Israel was convinced of a Hamas base under the hospital. Israeli attacks on hospitals were also heavily criticized by international organizations,” De Morgen continued.

De Morgen noted that “In an interview with an Israeli news site earlier this year, Lieutenant Colonel Tetro stated that he complied with international law of war. At the same time, the interview also shows how he himself linked the passage of aid supplies to the release of hostages by Hamas.”

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) filed a complaint with the Belgian authorities and demanded that Moshe Tetro’s ordination be rejected and that he be arrested or deported.

How can a war criminal like #MosheTetro, who had executive responsibility for the starvation and attacks on hospitals in Gaza, be accredited as an attaché in Belgium without any screening? This, while the ICC is prosecuting Netanyahu and Gallant for the very same crimes carried… pic.twitter.com/kYeLlcN4pR

— Dyab Abou Jahjah (@Aboujahjah) December 3, 2024

Israeli sources told Kan11 that “the organization that filed the complaint is an obsessive group that has filed and continues to file dozens of complaints against IDF officers in The Hague, Brussels, and other places around the world. The head of the organization, Dyab Abou Jahjah, is a Lebanese national who previously justified the September 11 attacks.”

The IDF Spokesperson responded: “Lieutenant Colonel Moshe Tetro is a highly respected officer who recently began his role as IDF attaché in Belgium. As with any mission and assignment, the IDF takes all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of its personnel and officers. The IDF strongly rejects allegations of war crimes and reiterates that IDF activity is carried out in accordance with political directives and subject to international law.”

The case of Moshe Tetro is different, Dyab Abou Jahjah told De Morgen. “Here we are dealing with a key figure in the implementation of Israeli policy toward hospitals and the strategy of famine and thirst as a weapon of war.”

Abou Jahjah: “If the Belgian government criticizes Israeli policy in Gaza, you would expect the services to be alarmed if Israel appoints such a person in our country as an official representative of the army.”

“There was no objection to Tetro’s appointment and he received full diplomatic accreditation,” Israeli Ambassador Idit Rosenzweig-Abu told De Morgen. “Israel acts according to international law.”