A Palestinian man who lives in the West Bank has taken an action against the Garda Commissioner for refusing to investigate a complaint alleging that Israeli settlers barred him from his land and used it to build cabins, which were then advertised for rent on an Irish-registered website.
The court ordered that the applicant cannot be named after he claimed his life would be under threat from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He is joined in the application by Palestinian rights group Sadaka, The Ireland Palestine Alliance Limited against the commissioner of An Garda Síochána.
The applicants allege that the actions of the Irish-registered website in allowing the property to be booked constitute a crime. The initial complaint to gardaí in August 2024 alleged the website was “an accessory to the crime of transfer, accessory to the crime of appropriation and money laundering”.
The applicants seek a High Court order quashing an alleged February 2025 decision by gardaí not to proceed with an investigation into the matter. In papers lodged to the court by lawyers for the two applicants, it is claimed the cabins located in the Occupied Territories on land owned by the man were still being advertised online for rent as of May 2025.
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In a sworn statement, Gerry Liston, a solicitor at KOD Lyons representing the applicants, claims he booked a stay at one of the cabins and printed off the website booking as evidence. It is claimed by the applicants that in the late 1990s the man was barred from accessing his lands by the IDF, and that this situation still exists.
Papers lodged to the High Court claim that his inability to access the lands led to decay across various areas, a trend that persisted until 2004 when Israeli settlers began construction on the land.
It is claimed the pace of construction increased in 2009 when two cabins were erected and advertised as rental properties online. This, the applicants claim, led to “settlers profiting from the illegal construction on privately owned Palestinian land” without the consent of the applicant.
In November 2024, gardaí wrote to the applicants saying an assessment of the complaint had taken place and that “following careful consideration, it has been determined there are no offences disclosed within this jurisdiction and therefore a criminal investigation is not warranted”.
Last February, gardaí responded to follow-up correspondence saying the matter was closed but that “the information, however, has been recorded for intelligence purposes by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau”.
A replying letter to gardaí from the plaintiffs said the suggestion that there was no evidence of a crime having been committed in Ireland was “not a sound basis upon which to decline to investigate” and submitted that gardaí had made an error in law.
It is submitted the three allegations could be investigated under Section 3 of the Geneva Convention, Section 7, of the International Criminal Court Act and also under Ireland’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act.
The applicants claim material submitted to gardaí “clearly demonstrates offences which were committed in Ireland”.
They accept there are “practical limitations” on gathering evidence outside of the jurisdiction, but add: “The gardaí are not limited to gathering evidence of offences in Ireland and can gather evidence in Ireland relating to offences committed abroad prosecutable in Ireland”.
At the High Court this week, James B Dwyer SC, for the plaintiffs, applied to Ms Justice Marguerite Bolger to have the man anonymised.
In his affidavit outlining why the man should be anonymised, Mr Liston submitted that should his client be identified he “would be in danger from the Israeli authorities”.
“The danger ranges from harassment, to physical harm and even death,” he states.
Ms Justice Bolger anonymised the man, adjourned the matter to October and said the Garda Commissioner should be put on notice.
