Jeremy Corbyn to host 'inquiry' into UK role in Gaza atrocities

Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the UK's Labour Party, is set to host a “Gaza tribunal” in order to determine the extent of British complicity in Israel’s military campaign on the besieged Palestinian territory.

Now an independent MP, Corbyn is a critic of the UK’s support for Israel in what rights groups and international legal experts have described as a genocide in Gaza.

Corbyn had earlier attempted to pass legislation in parliament for an independent public tribunal, similar to those on the Iraq war, on the British role in the conflict.

At the beginning of June, he told Middle East Eye that Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government needed to decide whether it would support an inquiry or “block our efforts to expose the truth”.

On 4 July, the Labour government blocked the attempt during a reading of the bill.

The UK has supplied Israel with arms during the course of its military operation in Gaza, which is confirmed to have left close to 60,000 people dead and has involved ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes in various parts of the territory.

Britain’s Royal Air Force has also conducted surveillance flights over Gaza and supplied Israel with intelligence for its operations.

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The International Court of Justice has determined there is a plausible case that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

According to Corbyn’s media office, the unofficial tribunal would be held in September and will involve testimony by survivors of Israeli attacks, international law experts and whistleblowers, among others.

Organised in four parts, it will look at the British role in abuses against Palestinians; the scale of violence inflicted in Gaza; Britain’s legal obligations to prevent war crimes, and whether it has fulfilled those duties.

Announcing the tribunal, Corbyn said: “Just like Iraq, government ministers are doing everything they can to hide the truth. Just like Iraq, they will not succeed.

“They cannot stop the inevitable: a full and independent inquiry. We will uncover the full scale of British complicity in genocide – and we will bring about justice for the people of Palestine.”