London police refuse to investigate British nationals accused of war crimes in Gaza

London's Metropolitan Police will not investigate 10 British nationals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity while fighting with the Israeli military in Gaza, the force said in a decision letter on 27 April.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) filed a 240-page dossier to the Met's War Crimes Team in April 2025. The PILC said the report detailed alleged involvement in “targeted killings of civilians and aid workers, indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, attacks on hospitals and protected sites, and the forced transfer and displacement of civilians”. The referral was accompanied by a letter of support signed by over 70 legal and human rights experts.

In its decision letter, the Met said it would not progress the matter, citing no realistic prospect of conviction and that an effective investigation could not be conducted. The Met accepted that international bodies consider that Israel’s actions in Gaza “could amount to war crimes” and initially indicated that at least four individuals were of 'particular interest'.

PILC and PCHR expressed “disappointment” with the decision, maintaining the dossier contained “credible material warranting a full investigation”. Paul Heron, a solicitor at PILC, said the groups “reject” the Met's conclusions and that the “wrong legal test” had 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,” Heron said. He added that the groups are “considering next steps very carefully and are likely to bring proceedings against the Metropolitan Police”.

The Met’s decision follows the closure of a foreign office unit tracking potential breaches of international law by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon due to funding cuts, The Guardian reported last month. Freedom of Information disclosures published by Declassified UK last month revealed that over 2,000 British citizens served in the Israeli military during its genocide in Gaza. In November 2025, the UK government confirmed that British soldiers trained in Israel during its genocide in Gaza.

At least 72,000 Palestinians, including around 20,000 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 2023. In April 2024, Israeli drone strikes targeting a World Central Kitchen vehicle in Gaza City killed seven aid workers, including three former members of Britain's armed forces. The family of James Kirby, one of the British aid workers killed, demanded a “proper, independent inquiry” into his death.