Published on 16th March 2026, the Gaza Tribunal Report follows a two-day tribunal held in Westminster in September 2025 at which evidence was taken from 91 witnesses. The Tribunal Members who wrote the report were Jeremy Corbyn, the Independent MP and well-known critic of Israel, as well as Dr Shahd Hammouri, a Palestinian/Jordanian Lecturer in International Law from the University of Kent and Professor Neve Gordon, an Israeli who is Professor of International Law at Queen Mary University of London. The inquiry was launched in response to what organisers described as a lack of political or legal response to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and insufficient scrutiny of the UK’s response to it.

 

The report is organised around four questions: what has happened in Gaza; what Britain’s legal responsibilities are; what Britain’s role has been; and whether Britain has fulfilled its obligations.

The Executive Summary sets out the scale of destruction in Gaza, stating that the official death toll had exceeded 73,000 at the time of writing, including at least 20,000 children, and citing further research suggesting that the true figure will be significantly higher. It records more than 170,000 injuries, the destruction or damage of over 80% of buildings, more than 90% of housing, 97% of schools, 91% of hospitals, and all universities. It also documents the widespread destruction of agricultural land and the displacement of around 1.9 million people.

The report then turns to sector-by-sector testimony. The accumulation of horror as you read these passages in sequence makes for especially powerful reading. One chapter describes Israel’s near-total destruction of Gaza’s health system, including attacks on hospitals, the killing and abduction of health workers, and the collapse of the conditions needed to treat the wounded and sustain civilian life. Another details the destruction of schools and universities and the killing of teachers and professors, with long-term consequences for the Palestinian education system, while another describes the deliberate killing of journalists (“press combatants”) and the implications for evidence-gathering and press freedom. Finally, a chapter on famine focuses on blockade, water deprivation, aid restrictions, and the destruction of agricultural infrastructure and food systems.

Cumulatively, these chapters illustrate one of the report’s central themes: not only mass death and injury, but the systematic destruction of the institutions and systems that make civilian life possible, including healthcare, education, journalism, food production and basic survival. The findings should be read alongside Article II of the UN Genocide Convention.

The facts, figures and events cited in the report draw on documentation produced month by month by United Nations agencies (see the latest report on Gaza here). As has frequently been observed, this genocide has been taking place in real time and live on multiple social media and media outlets, while being measured and reported on regularly and authoritatively by UN agencies. 

The second part of the report addresses Britain’s legal responsibilities, relying principally on the Geneva Conventions, the Genocide Convention, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, customary international law, and recent rulings of the International Court of Justice. On that basis, the report argues that the UK has duties to suspend arms transfers where there is a serious risk of their use in grave violations, to halt intelligence-sharing or security cooperation that could materially assist unlawful acts, to avoid recognising or assisting an unlawful occupation, to support humanitarian relief, and to cooperate with international accountability mechanisms including the ICJ and ICC.

The third part examines Britain’s conduct in four areas: weapons transfers, including export licences and the indirect supply of F-35 components; RAF surveillance flights over Gaza and the use of British bases; political and diplomatic support, including public rhetoric, engagement with Israeli officials and a failure to back meaningful accountability measures; and the failure to use sanctions, trade policy and other economic tools in line with the UK’s legal obligations.

The report’s conclusion is unequivocal. It argues that the British government has failed to meet its obligations, and that Britain has been complicit in war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It goes further still in some passages, suggesting that British involvement may in certain instances amount to active participation. On that basis, the report calls for an end to military cooperation, sanctions, stronger support for international legal mechanisms, greater transparency, and an independent public inquiry into UK-Israel cooperation since October 2023.

The report does not claim the institutional neutrality or binding authority of a court, parliamentary committee or statutory inquiry. Whatever one’s opinion of Corbyn, its value lies in the assembling of testimony, evidence and legal argument in one place, and in making a cumulative case about the scale of destruction in Gaza and the seriousness of the questions facing the UK. This can all be reviewed and scrutinised by others as necessary. It certainly demonstrates that there is more than enough evidence for political leaders in the UK such as Ed Davey, Zack Polanski and John Swinney to exercise a political judgment that genocide has been taking place.

The report also makes it hard to ignore or deny that Britain has systematically failed to meet its legal obligations to prevent genocide or the underlying facts the report assembles. These include: the scale of civilian death and injury; the destruction of hospitals, schools and universities; the targeting of journalists; the collapse of food and water systems; and the continuing questions about Britain’s role, responsibilities and transparency. 

* With thanks to Brian Brivati, British historian and Executive Director at Britain Palestine Project, whose Substack article on the Gaza Tribunal Report served as the inspiration for this piece and is used here with his full approval. 

* John Kelly is the Secretary of Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine and an active member in Warwickshire.