A pro-Gaza MP has backed a war crimes complaint filed by lawyers against 10 Britons after suggesting “my constituents don’t want to be living in a country or walking down a street where somebody who’s gone across and participated in a genocide.”
Iqbal Mohamed, the independent MP for Dewsbury and Batley, added:”Anyone that supports Israel, directly or indirectly, should be investigated.”
Mohamed spoke of a scenario in which a British-Israeli who had fought in Gaza and had “played target practise with children, shot at pregnant women and killed the unborn child is walking down the street next to them or living next to them, without any accountability”.
The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it will assess whether to investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity made against 10 British nationals who served in the Israeli military. Lawyers accuse 10 Brits of committing war crimes fighting for Israel in Gaza
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.
Michael Mansfield
The Met said it has received around 180 referrals related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict since it began on October 7 2023, but there has not been a UK-based investigation into any matters related to the conflict yet.
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.”
Iqbal Mohamed MP speaks
Jonathan Turner of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) said the complaint “has all the trappings of a publicity stunt.”
“It is also noticeable that the alleged crimes differ from the main allegations made by the prosecutor of the international criminal court, that Israel had used starvation as a method of warfare,” said Turner. “We showed that those allegations were totally false and we expect that these allegations are false too.”
The 10 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.”
Jonathan Turner KC
The report, filed on behalf of Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), includes testimony from witnesses in Gaza.
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.”
