Green Party leader joins campaign calling for UK probe into British nationals who served in Israeli army
A campaign calling on the UK government to investigate and monitor British nationals who served in the Israeli army during the Gaza genocide has gained public support, with Green Party leader Zack Polanski among more than 60 signatories to an open letter published by Declassified UK and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP).
The campaign, titled Nobody Wants to Live Next to a War Criminal, calls on the government to track the movements of British nationals who have served in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) since October 2023, subject returning fighters to screening at ports of entry and support robust war crimes investigations under domestic and international law.
The campaign follows revelations that at least 2,069 British nationals served in the Israeli army during Israel’s military assault on Gaza. These included 1,686 British-Israelis, 383 triple nationals and 54 so-called “lone soldiers”.
Other signatories include human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield KC, genocide scholar Prof Martin Shaw, former British Army Major General Charlie Herbert, veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott and anti-apartheid campaigner Andrew Feinstein.
The open letter says concerns over returning Israeli army soldiers are “well-founded” given the “extensive documentation of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide perpetrated by the IDF since October 2023,” and calls on the UK to investigate potential links to war crimes.
READ: Over 2,000 Britons served in IDF as 47,000 dual and multi-nationals enlisted during Gaza genocide
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is hearing South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, issued provisional measures in January 2024 after finding it “plausible” that Palestinian rights under the Genocide Convention were being violated. The Court ordered Israel to take immediate steps to prevent genocidal acts. A final ruling is not expected before 2029.
The campaign’s urgency has been reinforced by recent testimony from Dr Nick Maynard, a British consultant gastrointestinal surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals, who has worked repeatedly in Gaza. In a recent interview, Maynard said doctors were seeing clusters of gunshot wounds to particular body parts among Palestinians seeking food, including teenage boys shot in the head, abdomen and testicles. He described the pattern as “almost like target practice” and said Israeli soldiers and drones were shooting Palestinians at aid distribution sites.
In a separate interview with Oxford University’s student newspaper Cherwell, Maynard said Israel’s conduct in Gaza constitutes genocide, insisting: “I want you to use that word.” He also said he had witnessed “the clearest evidence” of the deliberate targeting of hospitals and healthcare workers, adding: “These are all war crimes.”
The British government has so far declined to collect data on UK nationals serving in the Israeli army. The Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Unit closed its scoping exercise into ten British nationals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity while fighting in Gaza, citing an inability to conduct an effective investigation and no realistic prospect of conviction.
The Declassified UK and ICJP campaign argues that this position is untenable given the scale of documented abuses in Gaza and the number of British nationals believed to have served in the Israeli military since October 2023.
READ: UK must probe Brits committing war crimes in Gaza as part of Israel army
