British lawyers submitted a request to British Foreign Secretary David Cameron to impose Magnitsky Act sanctions on a number of Israeli officials, most notably Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and members of the war council that was formed following October 7, 2023.

The British lawyers stressed in a letter they sent to Cameron, a copy of which reached “Arabi 21,” that “the members and observers of the Israeli War Council be punished because they are involved in committing war crimes, violations of international humanitarian law, and grave violations against human rights in Gaza” under the Penal Code and Anti-Semitism Law. Money Laundering Act of 2018, and under the International Magnitsky Act to punish human rights violators and perpetrators of corruption and gross human rights violations.

The letter stated that since October 2023, Israeli attacks on Gaza have caused the death of an estimated 14,000 people, including more than 10,000 women and children. The letter pointed to evidence of Israel’s use of indiscriminate bombing of the Strip, causing countless casualties. An unprecedented number of casualties, including dead and wounded, in addition to the damage to civilian infrastructure, and the letter pointed to a statement issued by the United Nations ten days after the war, which stated that “there are daily indicators of violations of the laws of war and international human rights law.”

The letter was submitted on behalf of the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Britain, in which it called on the Foreign Ministry to implement sanctions on these officials, such as banning them from entering the United Kingdom, and freezing any assets they have in Britain, as they are “involved in war crimes and responsible for committing grave violations of the right to life.” .

The letter pointed to previous incidents in which this law was used, saying that “Magnitsky sanctions were applied to those accused of committing grave human rights violations from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, and North Korea, as well as in 2022 against supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

The letter spoke of the disastrous effects of the decisions of these officials on the lives of residents in the Gaza Strip, pointing out that these decisions caused the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands from northern Gaza to its south as a main result of Israel’s bombing of residential areas, hospitals and schools in those areas.

The letter cited a statement issued by UNICEF on October 31, 2023, which said: “Gaza has turned into a cemetery for thousands of children, and it is no longer suitable for anyone to live there.”

It added: “The sanctions required to be imposed on Benjamin Netanyahu are appropriate for his role as head of the Israeli war council, which imposed a siege on the Gaza Strip and prevented the entry of vital supplies such as food, medicine, and fuel.”

The Arab Organization for Human Rights in Britain stressed that Netanyahu and members of the war council should be held accountable for their involvement mainly in Israeli air strikes on civilian areas in Gaza, which reportedly led to the erasure of entire families from the civil registry.