Met to assess war crimes claims about British nationals in Israeli military

The Metropolitan Police will assess whether to investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity made against 10 British nationals who served in the Israeli military.

The individuals are accused of targeted killing of civilians and aid workers in Gaza between October 2023 and May 2024.

British nationals were also involved in attacks on civilian areas including hospitals and protected areas such as historical monuments and religious sites, a 240-page report filed with the Met Police claims.

A Counter-Terrorism Policing spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we received a referral from a group of lawyers on Monday April 7.

“As is the case with all such referrals, this will now be assessed by specialist officers to determine whether any UK-based investigation may be required.

“The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to impact communities in the UK and internationally, and we recognise the strength of feeling on all sides.

“We remain focused on supporting victims and witnesses who report core international crimes, as well as supporting the UK families of those directly affected by the terrorist attacks in Israel.”

The suspects, who the lawyers did not publicly identify citing legal reasons, are said to include individuals at officer level and Israeli dual nationals.

Human rights barrister Michael Mansfield KC, part of the team of legal experts who lodged the report, said: “Over the years, the efficacy of the system the UK established is slowly failing.

“We are standing on the brink of collapse of the order. Israel has taken it upon themselves to act on the impunity that nothing is going to happen to them.

“It’s dire. But it doesn’t have to be this way.”

The Met said it has received around 180 referrals related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict since it began on October 7 2023.

There has not been a UK-based investigation into any matters related to the conflict yet.

Paul Heron, PILC legal director, said: “There are definitely unique challenges to expect from this investigation.

“I have worked with the Met Police War Crimes Unit before, and I absolutely expect them to investigate. They have a duty to investigate.

“It could take two or three years. It’s not going to be simple.”

The report, filed on behalf of Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), includes testimony from witnesses in Gaza.

A witness, whose relatives were killed in an Israeli attack, said: “I could not bear what I saw: dead bodies scattered next to each other.

“I took off the cover and saw the bodies of my uncle and his son, my nephews, and my brother-in-law.”

Another witness at a medical facility said they saw corpses “scattered on the ground, especially in the middle of the hospital courtyard, where many dead bodies were buried in a mass grave.”

A bulldozer “ran over a dead body in a horrific and heart-wrenching scene desecrating the dead,” the unnamed witness said.

Iqbal Mohamed, an independent MP for Dewsbury and Batley, said: “People in the UK are living next to a neighbour who played target practice with children.

“Anyone that supports Israel, directly or indirectly, should be investigated.”

Labour MPs Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed were denied entry to Israel on Saturday as they were suspected of wanting “to document Israeli security forces and spread hateful rhetoric against Israel”, the Times of Israel said.

In January, Ms Yang, the MP for Earley and Woodley in Berkshire, told the Commons about the “atrocious conditions” faced by medics in Gaza.

Mr Mohamed said: “Keir Starmer has been silent on his own MPs being denied entry into Israel.

“It’s extremely hard sitting in the chamber when MPs stand up for international law and rights, and watching them be heckled and goaded as if they were speaking expletives.

“It was quite hard to get used to the lack of humanity and compassion in the chamber.”