Top barrister Michael Mansfield is leading the legal campaign to bring alleged British perpetrators of war crimes in Gaza to justice [Getty]
Top UK barrister Michael Mansfield and a legal research team are set to submit a report to the Metropolitan Police on Monday, accusing ten British nationals of war crimes and crimes against humanity over their service with the Israeli military in Gaza.
The groundbreaking dossier—the first of its kind—was submitted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), representing Palestinians from Gaza and Britain.
Backed by a letter signed by seventy leading legal and human rights experts, it urges the Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Team to comprehensively investigate all allegations of involvement in Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.Â
“I could not bear what I saw: dead bodies scattered next to each other,” a witness whose relatives were killed in an Israeli attack said in testimony collected by PCHR.
“I could not recognise them as they were covered with a blanket… I took off the cover and saw the bodies of my uncle and his son, my nephews, and my brother-in-law, along with other displaced people’s bodies.”
The 10 British citizens, including Israeli dual nationals, are suspected of crimes including murder, extermination, attacking civilians, and the deportation or forcible transfer of populations.
It follows an international call to action from the Global 195 legal coalition, which is seeking accountability for alleged war crimes in Palestine.
“In the last 18 months, we have witnessed international crimes unfold. Our leaders have done little if anything to prevent the suffering of millions of innocent Palestinians,” Mansfield said as quoted by the PCHR.
“We ask the War Crimes Unit to take this report seriously, investigate, and if proven, arrest and try the individuals named,” he added.Â
“British nationals are under a legal obligation not to collude with crimes committed in Palestine. No one is above the law.”
The report, based on six months of extensive evidence gathering, covers alleged offences committed in Gaza from October 2023 to May 2024.
To comply with British law while the War Crimes Team considers the complaints, the full report cannot be made available to the media.
Through international treaties, including the Geneva Conventions and domestic legislation based on them, Britain has a responsibility to investigate and prosecute those who have committed international crimes.
