ICJP files Gaza war crimes complaint against UK officials

A leading UK legal centre that advocates for the rights of Palestinians has issued a formal complaint accusing a number of British government officials of complicity in facilitating war crimes in Israel’s war on Gaza.

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has filed an 800-page dossier of evidence to Scotland Yard- which consists of what it says is proof of genocide of Gaza.

The latest entry follows the ICJP’s 60-page dossier submitted in January, which outlined a range of suspected war crimes.

This included attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure - such as hospitals and cultural property - the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and Israel's use of white phosphorus against civilians.

The ICJP also said it named nine British citizens who travelled to Israel to fight in the Israeli military- as well as senior Israeli government officials, such as members of Israel's war cabinet, and high-ranking military personnel.

In the latest submission, a fifth senior British government official, alongside four others added before, is mentioned in the case.

ICJP Director Tayab Ali told The New Arab in January that the government ministers "are complicit on a secondary liability basis".

The legal centre said it collected its evidence by implementing first hand eyewitnesses, expert reports and expert evidence from 19 medical workers who have worked in Gaza since October. 

The complaint emphasised that war crimes and crimes against humanity such as "starvation as a weapon of war" and "wilfully causing great suffering to a civilian population" had been carried out.

"Complicity comes in many forms, whether that be providing political cover, encouraging criminal acts or supplying weapons," Ali said in a statement.

"We intend to ensure that allegations of war crimes against suspected Israeli war criminals and those who enable them are prosecuted, whether that be at the ICC, in the UK or across the globe. We will ensure that there will be no place for suspected war criminals to hide, especially not the UK."

He continued: "We’ve done everything we can. We’ve compiled stacks of high-quality eyewitness and expert evidence, drafted to the highest standards. Now it’s in the hands of those who can deliver the accountability we so desperately need to see."

The ICJP report follows International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan's move to request arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders over the Gaza war and the 7 October attack.

Khan has laid out the charges -- seven against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, eight against Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader in Gaza; Ismail Haniyeh, the group's political leader; and Hamas military strategist Mohammed Deif.

Israeli forces have killed at least 35,647 people in Gaza since 7 October, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The toll includes 85 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 79,852 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.