UK lawyers accuse British IDF volunteers of Gaza war crimes

[MIDDLE EAST] One of the UK's foremost human rights lawyers will file a war crimes charge against ten Britons who fought with the Israeli IDF in Gaza with the Metropolitan Police.

Michael Mansfield KC is one of a number of attorneys who will put up a 240-page dossier to Scotland Yard's war crimes branch on Monday, alleging targeted killings of civilians and humanitarian workers, including by sniper fire, as well as indiscriminate attacks on civilian locations such as hospitals.

The study, developed by a team of UK attorneys and researchers in The Hague, also accuses suspects of systematic attacks on protected places like as historic monuments and religious sites, as well as forced civilian relocation and displacement.

The dossier draws parallels with past cases where British nationals were prosecuted for involvement in overseas conflicts, such as the legal actions taken against individuals who fought with extremist groups in Syria. Legal experts note that the principle of universal jurisdiction—which allows domestic courts to prosecute serious international crimes regardless of where they were committed—could play a pivotal role in this case.

For legal reasons, neither the names of the suspects, who include officer-level personnel, nor the whole report are made public. Israel has consistently maintained that its political authorities or military committed war crimes during its assault on Gaza, which killed over 50,000 people, the vast majority of whom were civilians. The military action was launched in response to Hamas' onslaught on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed over 1,200 people, the majority of whom were civilians, and kidnapped another 250.

The submission comes as the world community becomes more concerned about foreign fighters in the Israel-Gaza war. Earlier this year, the UN observed an increase in foreign citizens, particularly those from Western countries, entering the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), typically through programs like as Mahal, which allows non-Israeli volunteers. Critics contend that such cooperation risks complicity in potential crimes of international law, but advocates view it as a justifiable defense of Israel.

Mansfield, noted for his work on major cases such as the Grenfell Tower tragedy, Stephen Lawrence, and the Birmingham Six, stated that if one of our nations commits an offense, we should take action. Even if we can't prohibit foreign governments from behaving badly, we can prevent our own citizens from doing so.

“British nationals are under a legal obligation not to collude with crimes committed in Palestine. No one is above the law.”

The report, which has been submitted on behalf of the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the British-based Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), covers alleged offences committed in the territory from October 2023 to May 2024 and took six months to compile.

Legal analysts suggest the case could test the UK’s commitment to enforcing international law domestically. While Britain has previously investigated war crimes linked to conflicts like Syria and Iraq, prosecutions remain rare. The Met’s war crimes unit, established in 2015, has faced criticism for its slow progress on high-profile cases, raising questions about whether this complaint will lead to concrete action.

According to the study, each of the acts committed by the ten suspects, some of whom are dual nationalities, constitutes a war crime or a crime against humanity. One witness at a medical institution reported seeing corpses "scattered on the ground, especially in the middle of the hospital courtyard, where many dead bodies were buried in a mass grave". According to the witness, a bulldozer "ran over a dead body in a horrific and heart-wrenching scene desecrating the dead". They further claimed that a bulldozer wrecked section of the facility.

Sean Summerfield, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers who assisted in compiling the dossier, stated that it was based on open-source evidence and witness testimony, which combined to create a "compelling" case.

“The public will be shocked, I would have thought, to hear that there’s credible evidence that Brits have been directly involved in committing some of those atrocities,” he said, adding that the team wanted to see individuals “appearing at the Old Bailey to answer for atrocity crimes”.

The complaint arrives as the International Criminal Court (ICC) intensifies its own probe into alleged war crimes in Gaza. Last month, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders, signaling unprecedented legal pressure on both sides of the conflict. While the UK is not an ICC member, its courts can still prosecute under domestic laws like the ICC Act 2001.

According to international treaties, Britain is obligated to investigate and prosecute persons who have committed "core international crimes".

According to Section 51 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001, it "is an offence against the law of England and Wales for a person to commit genocide, a crime against humanity, or a war crime" even if it occurs in another country.

The director of the PCHR, Raji Sourani, stated: "This is illegal, inhuman, and enough is enough." We provide the government with all available evidence, so they cannot claim ignorance.

The PILC's legal director, Paul Heron, stated, "We're filing our report to make clear that these war crimes are not in our name." Scores of legal and human rights experts have signed a letter urging the war crimes panel to investigate the allegations.