UK urged to investigate Israeli soldier over alleged Gaza war crimes

LONDON – The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has filed a criminal complaint with UK authorities against Israeli soldier Lidor Dafna over alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip, Anadolu Ajansi reported.

In a statement on Sunday, the foundation said Dafna, a reservist serving as a D9 armoured bulldozer operator in the 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion of the 7th Armoured Brigade, had participated in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon since November 2023.

The foundation said it had reason to believe Dafna was currently in the UK.

The complaint centres on the destruction of Great Ocean Mills, an industrial flour-producing facility in the Morag Corridor between Khan Younis and Rafah, on May 25, 2025.

According to the foundation, footage posted by Dafna on social media showed a bulldozer demolishing the facility's wheat silos.

The foundation alleged that Israeli forces subsequently occupied the building, converted it into a military base and reportedly used it to shoot Palestinians seeking food aid at a nearby Gaza Humanitarian Foundation site.

It said the destruction occurred while Israel had blocked food, fuel and medicine from entering Gaza, where flour was reportedly selling for as much as US$70 per kilogramme and about 500,000 people were facing starvation.

The foundation also alleged that the 603rd Battalion had carried out more than 60 controlled demolitions of buildings, including mosques and residential blocks, and contributed to widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and agricultural land during the establishment of the Morag Corridor.

Based on its investigation, the foundation said Dafna might be criminally responsible for extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity, intentionally targeting civilian objects, using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, extermination as a crime against humanity and genocide.

The foundation called on UK authorities to open an investigation, arrest and question Dafna, citing Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which requires states to search for individuals alleged to have committed grave breaches of the convention.

HRF director general Dyab Abou Jahjah said Dafna had filmed the destruction of a food production facility serving a starving population and posted the footage on social media.

“The United Kingdom now faces a simple test: will it arrest and prosecute a man who remains an active soldier of an army carrying out such crimes, or once again permit a perpetrator of genocide to walk freely on its soil and return to Gaza to continue committing his crimes?” he added.

Despite a ceasefire that took effect in October 2025, Israeli forces have continued attacks in Gaza, killing at least 1,551 Palestinians and injuring 5,573 others, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

Since October 2023, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 175,000 injured in Gaza, while about 90 per cent of the enclave's civilian infrastructure has been destroyed, according to the figures cited in the report. –BERNAMA