The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a complaint with the US Department of Justice against the Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir over war crimes and abuses against Palestinians.
In a statement on Saturday, the Belgium-based organisation said Ben-Gvir, who is expected to visit New York on 7 and 8 July, has been accused of war crimes against Palestinians, including US citizens, and called on the US Justice Department to open an investigation.
The extremist minister has used his authority since taking office in 2022 to implement policies of "systematic torture, murder, abuse and forced displacement" across the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly through the Israeli Prison Service, the group said.
Ben-Gvir had shaped policies across the Israeli police, the Israeli Prison Service and the Israeli Firearms Licensing Department under the Ministry of National Security, the foundation added.
It cited comments he made on 2 July 2024, when he said: "Since I took office as Minister of National Security, one of the top goals I set for myself was to worsen the conditions of terrorists in prisons and reduce their rights to the minimum required by law.".
Numerous Palestinian and international human rights organisations have described the Israeli Prison Service under Ben-Gvir as a "network of torture camps", where Palestinian detainees have been subjected to starvation, routine beatings, sleep deprivation, denial of medical care, electrocution, sexual violence and other forms of abuse.
At least 46 Palestinians died in Israeli custody between October 2023 and August 2025 as a result of those conditions.
The Hind Rajab Foundation also noted that sexual violence against detainees has become widespread, including forced stripping, repeated strip searches, filming detainees while naked, assaults on genitals, threats of rape, threats against family members and, in some cases, rape in front of other detainees.
Ben-Gvir personally attended some incidents of abuse and frequently filmed himself during the mistreatment of Palestinians, it said.
The allegation against him also amount to genocide, the foundation said, noting that Ben-Gvir's aim was "to destroy them as a people in whole or in part" through torture, abuse and killings in detention facilities.
The complaint also refers to the alleged abuse of participants in the Global Sumud Flotilla during missions in 2025 and 2026, claiming Israeli forces illegally boarded vessels in international waters before participants were detained, abused and tortured while in the custody of Ben-Gvir's border police.
"Participants describe being severely beaten and subjected to stress positions; being denied food, medicine, and water; being psychologically tortured; and, in a number of cases, being raped or sexually abused," the foundation said.
The allegations come amid international criticism of Ben-Gvir's conduct, including a video he posted on X in May showing detained Gaza activists kneeling with their hands bound after Israeli forces intercepted an aid flotilla in international waters.
In the footage, officers are seen forcing an activist to the ground after she chanted "Free, free Palestine".
The Hind Rajab Foundation also cited comments attributed to Ben-Gvir that "Lebanon should burn" and that "1,000 Lebanese mothers should cry for every tear shed by an Israeli mother", arguing that they amount to incitement to genocide.
The foundation has called for a formal investigation, for Ben-Gvir to be prevented from leaving the United States pending its outcome, and for Washington to fulfil its obligations under the Geneva Conventions.
"Itamar Ben Gvir is among the greatest criminals of our time... Every state in the world, including the United States, has the obligation to arrest him and bring him to justice for his crimes," Jake Romm, the foundation's US representative, said in the statement.
Ben-Gvir is expected to lead an official delegation to the Police Chiefs Summit at UN headquarters in New York on 7 and 8 July.
A UN committee said in November 2025 that Israel was operating a "de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture and ill-treatment" of Palestinians.
Human rights organisations continue to call for an independent international investigation into alleged abuses of Palestinian detainees, as well as the restoration of prison monitoring and family visit access.