An Israeli-American soldier is facing a war crimes complaint over his suspected complicity in carrying out systematic demolitions of civilian infrastructure during Israel’s war on Gaza - the first such case to be filed against an American citizen outside the United States.
The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) announced that it had submitted a complaint to Sri Lanka’s "competent authorities" targeting Jake Burkons, a dual US-Israeli national from Texas and veteran of the Israeli army’s 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion, after tracing him to the country, where he was travelling as a tourist.
HRF accused Burkons of taking part in controlled demolitions of homes, mosques, farms, industrial facilities and other civilian structures in Gaza between 2023 and 2025, in operations it says were not justified by military necessity and may amount to war crimes.
Sri Lanka’s police and attorney-general’s office have not publicly commented on the complaint, and there has been no official confirmation that a criminal investigation has been opened.
It therefore remains unclear whether Sri Lanka will take concrete steps on the complaint against Burkons, such as opening a formal criminal investigation, issuing a summons or seeking his arrest.
In its published case file, HRF identifies Burkons as a member of Company D in the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion, part of the army’s 7th Armoured Brigade.
The group says the battalion conducted at least 65 "controlled demolitions" during Israel’s assault on Gaza, often inside evacuated buildings and away from active combat, and accuses it of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure.
Much of the case rests on Burkons’ own social media posts, including images appearing to show him in uniform in Gaza holding a detonation cable and posing in front of destroyed structures, as well as footage of demolitions in the southern city of Khan Younis.
According to HRF’s legal analysis, these demolitions could constitute "extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity", intentional attacks on civilian objects and bombardment of undefended building – all of which are prosecutable as war crimes.
The foundation has argued that individual soldiers who carried out and publicly documented such acts must be held personally responsible under international humanitarian law. 'Travelling soldiers' strategy HRF says it has formally asked Sri Lanka to investigate Burkons under its obligations to search for and prosecute suspects of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions , which allow states to exercise universal jurisdiction over certain war crimes regardless of where they were committed.
Local media in Colombo have reported on the complaint and noting that Burkons was present in Sri Lanka.
The complaint comes amid growing efforts by rights groups to use domestic courts in the Global South to pursue accountability for Israel’s conduct in Gaza, following the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures in South Africa's genocide case against Israel and moves by the International Criminal Court to seek arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials.
The case against Burkons forms part of what HRF calls its "travelling soldiers" strategy – filing complaints against identified Israeli soldiers who pass through third countries to trigger arrests or at least place them under legal scrutiny abroad.
Burkons’ case marks the first attempt targeting an American citizen outside the United States.
In December 2024, the group announced it had helped lodge an urgent complaint in Sri Lanka against another Israeli soldier, Gal Ferenbook, accusing him of responsibility for the killing of a Palestinian civilian in Gaza and the desecration of the victim’s body.
Beyond Sri Lanka, the foundation has supported a sweeping complaint at the ICC naming around 1,000 Israeli soldiers and commanders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, and has urged other states to open universal jurisdiction investigations when Israeli personnel travel through their territories.