Met Police Won’t Investigate Ten Brits Accused of War Crimes in Gaza

The Metropolitan police will not be opening an investigation into the ten British nationals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity while fighting with the Israeli military in Gaza.

A landmark 240-page report of evidence was delivered to the Met’s War Crimes Team in April last year by a team of legal experts on behalf of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the Public Interest Law Centre, which are representing Palestinians in Gaza and the UK. 

After repeated attempts to follow up, Novara Media can now reveal that the Met will not be opening an investigation, despite more than 70 legal and human rights experts signing a letter of support urging the police to take action in accordance with international law.

A spokesperson for the Met told Novara Media: “The dossier and information provided to us on 7 April 2025 was assessed by specialist officers within the Counter Terrorism Policing War Crimes Team in line with the joint police and CPS guidelines. Based on the information provided, we will not be opening an investigation into this matter and the referrer has been informed of this outcome.” 

Top human rights barrister Michael Mansfield KC – who was part of the legal delegation that initially delivered the dossier – called the Met’s decision “shocking” and “a license for people, essentially, to get away with murder”.

“It’s utterly disgraceful that they should take a whole year to decide not to even open an investigation,” Mansfield told Novara Media “That means that they had, in fact, decided from the beginning that they weren’t going to bother. The Met is unfit for purpose. I think it’s a complete insult as a rule of law, and to anybody who wants to try and get to the truth of what’s been happening. 

“This sets such a poor example to the rest of the world, that we don’t bother with our own citizens potentially transgressing international law.” 

According to the Public Interest Law Centre, the dossier contained a detailed overview of alleged crimes committed across Gaza between October 2023 and May 2024 by ten British nationals – including dual citizens – who are accused of involvement in the targeted killing of civilians and aid workers, indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas such as hospitals and schools, the forced transfer and displacement of civilians, and coordinated attacks on historic monuments and religious sites. 

The Public Interest Law Centre maintains that the referral provided credible material warranting a full investigation and that the Met’s refusal risks creating an “accountability gap” for alleged international crimes committed by British nationals or residents overseas. 

Paul Heron, a Public Interest Law Centre solicitor, told Novara Media: “We reject the Metropolitan police’s conclusions. In our view, the wrong legal test has been applied. This was not a charging decision for prosecutors at the end of an investigation; it was a decision about whether serious allegations of core international crimes should be investigated at all.

“The police appear to have demanded, at the pre-investigation stage, evidence capable of establishing a realistic prospect of conviction. That is the wrong approach. The very purpose of an investigation is to obtain and test evidence, including evidence not available to victims, lawyers or civil society organisations.”

Human rights lawyer and PCHR director Raji Sourani accused the Met of selectivity and of “politicising international law and the rule of law, and providing legal cover to suspected criminals”. 

Sourani told Novara Media that the report was handed to the Met so the “establishment would have no excuse not to hold accountable” those Brits accused of participating in ongoing crimes. “This is a clear message that the UK is not only supporting Israel politically and with arms, but covering up legally for British participants,” he added. 

The Met’s failure to open an investigation into the dossier comes after the Guardian reported last month that the Foreign Office unit tracking potential breaches of international law by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon has shuttered due to departmental cuts, and that the head of the War Crimes Team had raised the importance of the unit in helping the Met consider war crimes allegations. 

More than 2,000 Brits with dual and multiple nationalities have served in the IDF during Israel’s genocide in Gaza, according to Freedom of Information data revealed by Declassified in February. 

Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed at least 72,000 Palestinians since October 2023, including 20,000 children. 

The Met has been approached for comment.