The National Court opens an investigation for terrorism for the disappearance of two Spaniards in Israel

The National Court has opened an investigation into the disappearance of two Spanish citizens and the Israeli wife of one of them after the Hamas attacks last weekend in Israel. Judge María Tardón considers that the events could constitute terrorism crimes.

The judge makes the decision after the Citco (Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime) sent to the Court the complaints presented by the families of the victims missing in the conflict zone: a man and a young woman who were military service in the Israeli forces as a holder of Spanish and Israeli nationality.

Since the preparation of the report, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that the girl is among the deceased.. This is Maya Villalobo, who was doing military service at the Nahal Oz base, very close to the border with Gaza and one of the Hamas targets..

As for the marriage, it is Iván Illarramendi Saizar, a native of Zarautz (Guipúzcoa). He lived with his Israeli wife in a kibbutz very close to Gaza.. The family's complaint extends to the wife, whose disappearance the Court has also decided to investigate as she was kidnapped along with the Spaniard.

The Central Court of Instruction number 3, which has taken charge of the investigation, requested the opinion of the Prosecutor's Office on the opening of a case. The Public Ministry considered that the Court had jurisdiction over what happened, since it involved terrorism crimes and there were victims of Spanish nationality.. The Prosecutor's Office had opened its own investigation after what happened, which must now be archived when a judge intervenes in the matter.. You must also file a complaint so that the facts can be prosecuted in Spain.

The drastic cuts to universal justice in recent years maintained the possibility for the Spanish Justice to investigate this type of terrorism crimes with a Spanish victim.. The case can be kept open as long as there is no other comparable case in Israel. If a criminal procedure is activated there that includes the deceased and the missing person, the Court's investigation should be closed, as has previously happened in proceedings related to Israel.

According to the facts known so far, those responsible for what happened could have committed one crime of terrorist murder (punishable by permanent imprisonment) and two of terrorist kidnapping (20 to 25 years), in addition to the corresponding charges of belonging to a terrorist group.