September, 04 2026, 01:43pm EDT
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Tlaib Calls to Arrest Commander of IDF Unit Accused of Killing Hind Rajab as He Travels the US
"The commander of the Israeli military unit likely responsible for killing 5-year-old Hind Rajab is currently in the US," Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American member of Congress, wrote on social media. "As a party to the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions, our government is obligated to arrest and investigate him for these war crimes and acts of genocide."
An investigation by the foundation, in collaboration with Al Jazeera, concluded that Glass’ unit opened fire on a car, killing six of Rajab’s family members on January 29, 2024, as they attempted to flee Gaza City.
Rajab spent hours pleading with emergency dispatchers to rescue her. But Israeli forces also attacked an ambulance sent to save her, killing two paramedics. Rajab's body was discovered 12 days later.
Following international outrage, Israel initially denied responsibility for the attack, before admitting in August 2026 that its troops had fired upon the family's car and toward the ambulance.
Using satellite imagery, forensic evidence, and Israeli soldiers’ social media activity, the Hind Rajab Foundation said it established that Glass’ unit was operating a few hundred meters from Rajab’s vehicle when the attack occurred. However, the allegations have not been proven in court.
On Monday, the foundation posted photos of Glass standing on the Brooklyn Bridge and riding the New York City subway. It is not clear why he is traveling in the US or where he is currently located.
The group filed a request with the Justice Department on Monday demanding that it investigate, arrest, and prosecute Glass under the US War Crimes Act and federal genocide statutes.
"Glass is not just another man implicated in the killing of Hind Rajab," said Dyab Abou Jahjah, the foundation's general director. "He is the man who most likely gave the order to open fire on the vehicle carrying Hind and members of her family, including other children. That Glass can walk the streets of the United States as though nothing has happened is intolerable. He must be brought to justice.”
Photos posted on October 19, 2026, show Israeli Maj. Sean Glass standing on the Brooklyn Bridge and riding the New York City subway. (Photos from the Hind Rajab Foundation)
The foundation has already filed a submission with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and authorities in other countries, calling for Glass and members of his unit to be held accountable.
Glass, the foundation noted, has often publicly celebrated destruction in Gaza during Israel’s genocidal military campaign there, which has led to the deaths of more than 74,000 people, including over 21,000 children, according to official tallies. Experts warn the true death toll is likely much higher.
According to the foundation:
On Instagram, in interviews, and in a self-published book, [Glass] has proudly recounted the destruction of hospitals, UN buildings, entire neighborhoods, and the Rafah Crossing, the lifeline on which Palestinian survival depended.
Celebrating 100 days of the war, he described the campaign as a "war of existence of the eternal people" and urged his troops to "attack, attack till victory." Marking seven years in the army, he wrote there was "no more significant way to celebrate" than in Al-Shifa, "the terror nest," posting side-by-side satellite images of Al-Shifa Medical Complex before and after his forces destroyed it.
In his farewell speech to his company, he boasted that they had "destroyed every part to where we were asked to go, in all areas of the Gaza Strip," and described emptying the Zeitoun neighborhood of its residents. Days after the ceasefire took effect, still in Gaza, he filmed himself promising, "I'll rush at the opportunity to return to the battle and finish the work."
"The War Crimes Act and the Genocide Statute were written precisely for men like Sean Glass," said Jake Romm, the Hind Rajab Foundation's representative in the United States. "Congress and successive administrations promised that the United States would never be a refuge for war criminals; instead it has condoned and aided their crimes."
Calls for Glass' arrest come amid the Trump administration's efforts to "dismantle" the ICC over its attempt to prosecute Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes in Gaza. Earlier this month, after targeting individual judges and prosecutors, the administration placed the ICC itself under sweeping financial sanctions. Human Rights Watch executive director Philippe Bolopion said the administration's clear goal was to "shield US and Israeli officials from facing charges before the court."
US law allows foreign nationals like Glass to be prosecuted for certain war crimes when they are present on US soil. Such prosecutions require the approval of the US attorney general or deputy attorney general.
As of Tuesday morning, Tlaib appeared to be the only US lawmaker who had issued a statement calling for the US government to arrest Glass.
"Glass and his company are responsible for some of the worst atrocities of this genocide—that he now walks free and unbothered in the US is not only an insult to his victims, but to all people of conscience here in the US as well," Romm said. "Some politicians in the US have claimed to be committed to accountability for Israeli war crimes—this filing is a good opportunity to test the sincerity of that commitment.”
US Officials Face Fresh Pressure After Another American 'Brutalized' by Israeli Settlers in West Bank
"One town over from Abu Falah and was attacked on the same day," he noted. "They're really cracking down here."
The journalist pointed out that six weeks ago, President Donald Trump's ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, "stood in a home in Turmus 'Ayya, telling residents they deserved peace, condemning settler terror, and promising severe consequences."
"Today, settlers burned American homes and assaulted US citizens here," he continued. "No accountability in sight."
"Meanwhile, Huckabee just gave the keynote speech at a settlement conference alongside Eliram Azoulay, one of the key figures in ethnically cleansing Masafer Yatta," Nathaniel added.
Israeli settlers set fire to a house and attack Palestinians in Turmus 'Ayya, a town in the illegally occupied West Bank, on October 19, 2026. (Photo by Avishay Mohar/Facebook)
Avishay Mohar, who is part of Activestills, "an independent photography collective engaged in decolonial struggles in Palestine/Israel since 2005," described the Monday attack with photographs on his Facebook and Instagram accounts.
"Israelis set fire to a house and attack Palestinian olive harvesters in Turmus 'Ayya as they picked olives in a residential area between the village's houses," he wrote in the caption. "Over the years, Israel has taken nearly all of the village's land. The Israelis, dressed in black and wearing masks, severely beat an elderly farmer with sticks and sharp objects."
"They threw stones at houses, set two cars on fire, and burned a room in one of the homes," according to Mohar. "Later, Israeli army forces arrived along with other Israeli civilians, including one known for building new outposts in the area. They threatened residents with tear gas if they did not leave immediately, and banned them from blocking the road leading from the violent outposts to the village homes."
The United States' largest Muslim civil rights group and its Chicago chapter demanded action from US policymakers—who have increased the billions of dollars in military aid that they give to Israel annually since Israeli forces began a genocidal war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in response to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack.
Throughout Israel's assault on Gaza—which has killed over 74,000 people—there has been a surge of violence by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank, leading to the deaths of more than 1,100 Palestinians and multiple Americans.
"Once again, the extremist thugs supported and enabled by the Israeli government have brutalized an American citizen. Enough is enough. Failing to speak out about this and demand accountability is a betrayal of the American people in favor of a foreign state," said the Council on American-Islamic Relations and CAIR-Chicago in a Monday statement.
"We call on Illinois lawmakers to condemn this vicious attack. We call on members of Congress to demand the US government place sanctions on illegal Israeli settlers and the Israeli military," they continued. "We call on Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs to divest Illinois' public funds from Israel bonds and halt all new purchases and renewals."
They added that "Illinois taxpayers should not be bankrolling a government that enables attacks on American citizens. We also call on the US government to launch an independent investigation into the attacks on Mohammed Sakat, Heidi Levine, and all other Americans targeted by Israeli settlers and troops."
Between the Israeli settler assaults of Levine and Sakat, there were reports that Israel's military ignored repeated distress calls before masked settlers attacked a group of European diplomats in the West Bank over the weekend.
While the Israel Defense Forces attempted to defend itself by saying the diplomats did not coordinate their visit with the military and turned to a hotline not intended for civilian use, the anti-occupation group Breaking the Silence said that "the IDF will always have a bureaucratic excuse, but the real reason is that backing settler terrorists is its policy."
According to The Associated Press, "Israeli police said they arrested 10 people on Monday in connection with a wave of settler violence that included attacks on a foreign journalist and European diplomats in the occupied West Bank over the weekend."
However, as the Palestinian National Authority's news agency WAFA noted in a Monday report about three olive harvesters injured by Israeli settlers near Salfit, "colonists' violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities."
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