Israel president hit with criminal complaint in Switzerland: prosecutors

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has been targeted with a criminal complaint during a visit to Switzerland, Swiss prosecutors said, amid allegations of crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has been targeted with a criminal complaint during a visit to Switzerland, Swiss prosecutors said Friday, amid allegations of crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office (BA) confirmed that it had received a criminal complaint against the Israeli president, who was at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos on Thursday to discuss the Gaza war.

"The criminal complaints will now be examined in accordance with the usual procedure," BA said in a statement, adding that it was in contact with the foreign ministry "to examine the question of the immunity of the person concerned".

It did not say what the specific complaints were, or who had filed them.

But a statement allegedly issued by the people behind the complaint, entitled "Legal Action Against Crimes Against Humanity" and obtained by AFP, said several unnamed individuals had filed charges with federal prosecutors and with cantonal authorities in Basel, Bern and Zurich.

The statement said the plaintiffs were seeking a criminal prosecution in parallel to a case brought before the UN's International Court of Justice by South Africa, which accuses Israel of genocide in its offensive in Gaza.

Addressing the issue of immunity, the statement suggested that it could be lifted "in certain circumstances", including in cases of alleged crimes against humanity, adding that "these conditions are met in this case".