An image is being shared on social media alongside claims that an Israeli officer named “Yukhal Yulita” was “hauled in” by Dutch police, accused of committing war crimes in Rafah in southern Gaza. But no Israeli nationals have been arrested for war crimes in the Netherlands. And the image was taken in the UK in 2016.
Several Facebook posts share a photo of a police officer escorting a woman by the arm. These have the caption: “BREAKING: Dutch police have hauled in Israeli officer Yukhal Yulita while she vacationed in Europe — accused by human rights groups of war crimes in Rafah, where Israel massacred civilians and leveled entire neighborhoods. She thought she could sip cocktails abroad while her hands dripped with blood. Not anymore.”
But the photo wasn’t taken in the Netherlands. It actually comes from a 2016 Daily Mail article about a bank holiday night out in Newcastle.
It’s not completely clear what the post means by “hauled in”, but we could find no reports of someone named Yukhal Yulita, or an Israeli officer by another name, being arrested in the Netherlands relating to events in Rafah or Gaza.
A spokesperson for the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service confirmed to Full Fact that “no such arrest had taken place in the Netherlands” and that “no Israeli nationals have been arrested in connection with war crimes”.
A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in the Netherlands told us that it had “no knowledge of any such incident or of an individual by the name ‘Yukhal Yulita’.”
The same image also circulated recently, but with claims that Belgian police arrested two Israeli terrorists, one of whom was allegedly named “Yukhal Yuilta”.
It is true that in Belgium, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office referred two Israeli soldiers, who were in the country attending the Tomorrowland music festival, to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The names of these soldiers have not been made public, however, and an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson told Reuters: “The IDF is not aware of any female officer being detained in any country.”
In relation to the Israel-Gaza war, the ICC has issued public arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas military chief, Mohammad Deif (which the ICC told us it had withdrawn following his death).
A spokesperson for the ICC told Full Fact: “The Court has not issued any other public arrest warrant in the context related to Palestine.”
We’ve contacted the IDF for comment, and will update this article if we receive a response.
You can find more of our work fact checking claims concerning the Israel-Gaza conflict on our website. We’ve also written a guide with some advice on verifying misleading images.