A German-Israeli Israeli Defense Force sniper has taken legal action. guardian He was accused by the newspaper and several German newspapers of lying about him and publishing his photo in articles about war crimes.
In 2025, guardian published an article about an IDF sniper named C. in which he admitted to killing unarmed civilians along with his sniper partner in November 2023.
guardian He worked on the investigation for five months with Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) and Paper Trail Media. der spiegel,ZDF.
However, Mr. C never intended his comments to be published. He was contacted by a Hebrew speaker who claimed to want to write about his unit’s experiences and honor the fallen soldiers. But Palestinian journalist and activist Younis Tirawi posted excerpts of the interview online, justifying the decision by saying it was in the public interest given the scale of the civilian killings.
Publication of name and face without verification of identity
Mr. C did not name his partner, but the Guardian identified him in the article as G., a German-Israeli national, and published his full name and photo. This was done without confirmation from the parties involved.
“The location of C and G was traced from photographs and videos taken by Israeli soldiers showing two snipers aiming their weapons through a window and a hole in a wall,” the line read.
However, G. was not even in the area at the time, nor was he C.’s partner or on the same team.
“Mr. C interviewed and recorded what was said to be off the record with very questionable Palestinian activists, claiming to be for completely different purposes,” Joachim Nikolaus Steinhöfel, Mr. G’s lawyer, explained to The Jerusalem Post. “They conducted a five-hour interview, cut it down to 40 minutes and edited it in a misleading way. And in this interview, C says, “My partner shot a certain person in the Dogmosh family.”
“The whole article is about my client, who wasn’t even there,” Steinhefel added. “I have an affidavit from his commanding officer in the IDF, who says he was not there at the time of the incident. They just made it up.” Mr. C also signed an affidavit stating that Mr. G was not there at the time.
Steinhoefel sent a cease and desist letter guardian The managing editor signed a promise never to mention his full name or photo again to avoid contractual penalties.
However, the damage was done.
german newspaper der spiegelZDF, and Abendzeitung had already published extensive articles with photos and names.
der spiegel and guardian G. claims that he was given an opportunity to respond prior to publication.
“In fact, we gave him the opportunity to address the allegations through multiple channels. At that point, the attorney you quoted extensively in the paper said without objection that he was not representing G. We stand by our reporting,” Spiegel told the Post. The Guardian told the newspaper that it had contacted G for comment multiple times, both in Israel and Germany. Neither paper received a response prior to publication.
As a result, G.’s identity spread rapidly on social media, German media, and Arab media, accusing him of war crimes and threats against his life. The German human rights organization ECCHR has formally charged both Mr. C and Mr. G with killing unarmed civilians in Gaza.
“Imagine a man with no connection being exposed as a murderer of innocent civilians, with his name and photo, and that going around the internet. It’s unbelievable. It fits very well into this anti-Semitic narrative in the Guardian and some other media outlets.”
Other soldiers from the same IDF unit were also identified by Tirawi, and their full names and photos were posted online.
Legal action against newspaper companies
As mentioned above, the Guardian signed a cease-and-desist letter agreeing to remove references to G. and his photo from its coverage of this article. Steinhöfel also asked the Guardian for 100,000 euros in financial compensation for the soldier.
Steinhöfel then asked a German court to issue an injunction against the Abendzeitung newspaper group. An injunction is a legal order that prevents a newspaper from publishing false statements about G.
Specifically, Mr. G asked the court to stop newspapers from stating or disseminating that he was involved in the killing of civilians as part of a sniper duo, and from publishing other statements defaming or defaming him, such as claiming that he was part of a military operation in which he was not involved.
Mr. G’s legal team emphasized the personal risk he faced as a result of the false accusations made about him. Mr. G has received threats on social media and other platforms, including violent threats and posts openly discussing his identity and whereabouts, which has put his safety at risk.
Steinhöfel claimed that the evidence the newspaper used to charge him with war crimes was unreliable and manipulated, and that publishing false personal information about G violated his personal rights.
The court decided to issue a preliminary injunction against Abendzeitung Verlags-GmbH and Abendzeitung Digital GmbH (defendants), prohibiting them from publishing or disseminating certain defamatory statements regarding G.
If the defendant fails to comply with the injunction (by continuing to make such statements), the defendant may have to pay a large fine or be sentenced to prison.
The court also prohibited newspapers from disseminating statements made by legal expert Alexander Schwartz, who suggested Mr. G should be investigated for war crimes.
Abendzeitung has confirmed that it will not challenge the court’s decision.
“What we are witnessing here is not only a complete disregard for basic journalistic principles, but also an almost activist, anti-Israel witch-hunt against innocent human beings by media outlets such as Der Spiegel and ZDF,” Steinhöfel said, adding that the false identification led to an “almost irreversible global threat” to Mr. G’s safety.