British police said they were assessing the claims made by the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians.
london, united kingdom – A new criminal complaint has been lodged with the Metropolitan Police alleging that British government officials may have aided and abetted the deliberate starvation of Palestinians.
This supplements an existing indictment issued by the International Center for Justice for Palestine (ICJP) in January, which found that British politicians face criminal liability for their involvement in Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip. claims.
A new complaint filed by ICJP on May 17th names 22 people, including five senior UK government ministers.
The ICJP, an independent organization of lawyers, politicians and academics supporting Palestinian rights, submitted 60 pages of complaints and a further 800 pages of evidence collected from 19 medical professionals who have worked in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.
This is one of the most comprehensive complaints ever lodged with Scotland Yard in relation to Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians.
Israel’s latest and deadliest war in the Gaza Strip began after Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs the Gaza Strip, attacked southern Israel. The Hamas-led offensive dramatically escalated the historic Israeli-Palestinian conflict, leaving 1,139 people dead and dozens taken prisoner during the attack.
“Intentionally causing great suffering”
The lawsuit alleges that five British government ministers aided and abetted Israeli war crimes through military support and moral encouragement.
The names of the politicians named in the complaint are being kept confidential to allow the Metropolitan Police to consider the evidence. The complaint also implicates Israeli politicians and military personnel, as well as British civilians fighting for the Israeli army.
The latest accusations include that Israel is “deliberately causing great suffering” and using “famine as a weapon of war.”
Both are war crimes under British and international law (including under the Rome Statute and the Geneva Conventions).
In a statement, the Metropolitan police told Al Jazeera that the criminal complaint was being assessed by specialist officers as part of a research exercise to determine whether further action or a formal investigation would take place.
If authorities decide to open a formal criminal investigation, suspects could be arrested and charged.
The ICJP’s complaint contains extensive evidence with harrowing details of how the Israeli blockade of Gaza and delays in the flow of medicines, fuel, food and water to the Strip have caused horrific damage and suffering.
One doctor reported that up to 90 percent of patients were very thin and many appeared emaciated, while another cited cases of infants who were so malnourished they did not even have the strength to cry.
Many doctors reported severe shortages of painkillers such as morphine and ketamine, which are used to treat injured patients and during surgeries.
An 11-year-old girl with non-survivable burns all over her body was left without painkillers until her final moments due to a shortage. In another case, there were no painkillers to help a 7-year-old with explosive injuries, so doctors singing songs to the child were the only means of comfort.
“Collidarity can take many forms, including providing political cover, encouraging criminal activity or supplying weapons,” said Tayyab Ali, director of the ICJP and head of international law at Bindmans LLP.
“We will ensure that war crimes charges against Israeli war criminals suspects and those who facilitated them are prosecuted, whether at the International Criminal Court, in the UK or anywhere around the world,” he added.
The British government has been steadfast in its support of Israel since the October 7 Hamas attack, from providing arms to expressing support. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Israel had the right to protect its own security, but called for a humanitarian moratorium to allow aid to Gaza.
When asked to comment on the ICJP’s criminal complaint, a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement: “As the foreign minister stated, Israel is committed to acting within IHL.” [international humanitarian law] “Israel has the capacity and the ability to do so, but we are also deeply concerned about the impact on civilians in Gaza. We will carefully consider advice regarding Israel’s capabilities and commitment to international humanitarian law and act in accordance with that advice.”
