[News] Legal group calls on Met Police to investigate Elbit Systems UK directors

[Anti-Imperialist News]

thecanary.co
<https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2026/02/20/legal-group-calls-on-met-police-to-investigate-elbit-systems-uk-directors/>
Legal group calls on Met Police to investigate Elbit Systems UK directors
The Canary
February 20, 2026
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The Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) <https://www.pilc.org.uk/>, with the
support of Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) <https://caat.org.uk/>, has
today submitted a detailed complaint to the Metropolitan Police Counter
Terrorism Command (SO15) concerning Israeli
<https://www.thecanary.co/topics/israel/> arms company Elbit Systems.
The case against Elbit Systems

The complaint asks SO15 to open a criminal investigation into four current
and former British directors of Elbit Systems UK Ltd for possible
complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Gaza,
under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 (ICCA) and related domestic
offences of aiding and abetting.

Drawing on extensive evidence and findings from UN bodies, international
courts, human rights organisations and open-source investigations, the
complaint sets out the relevant legal framework, Elbit Systems’ corporate
structure and UK operations, and the publicly available evidence linking
the company to attacks in Gaza.

PILC is bringing the complaint on behalf of a Palestinian national living
in the UK whose close family remain in Gaza. It asks SO15’s War Crimes Unit
to investigate whether decisions taken by Elbit Systems UK and its UK-based
subsidiaries, including the export of drone engines, targeting equipment
and other military systems to Israel, may amount to aiding, abetting or
otherwise assisting grave breaches of international humanitarian law.

The complaint comes amid growing recognition that serious crimes under
international law are taking place in Gaza. The UK secretary of state for
Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, stated in private messages last year
that Israel was “committing war crimes before our eyes” in Gaza.

Amnesty International UK has now warned the government not to row back
<https://www.amnesty.org.uk/latest/uk-amnesty-warns-on-gaza-following-wes-streeting-comments/>
from that assessment and reiterated its call for an immediate suspension of
UK arms transfers to Israel.

CAAT has long documented Elbit Systems’ role in Israeli military operations
and its UK-based subsidiaries. For more background, see CAAT’s factsheets
<https://caat.org.uk/data/companies/elbit-systems/>.
Key points from the complaint

The complaint argues that the facts clearly meet SO15’s own ‘scoping
criteria’ for opening a war-crimes investigation. In particular, it
highlights that:

   - There is serious, independent evidence that core international crimes
   have been committed in Gaza since October 2023. This includes findings and
   reports from the International Court of Justice, UN special procedures and
   human rights offices, the International Criminal Court, and major NGOs such
   as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which describe patterns of
   unlawful attacks, starvation as a method of warfare, forced displacement
   and, according to several authorities, acts of genocide.
   - Elbit Systems Ltd (Israel) is a central supplier of weapons and
   technologies used in Gaza. Open-source research shows that Elbit produces
   attack drones, guided munitions and targeting systems that have seen use in
   repeated military operations in Gaza, including during the current
   offensive.
   - Elbit Systems UK and its UK subsidiaries form part of that supply
   chain. Evidence from NGOs and investigative journalists indicates that
   UK-based companies within the Elbit group have received multiple export
   licences for drone engines, targeting systems and other military equipment
   to Israel, and that shipments from UK sites to Elbit facilities in Israel
   continued during the current conflict.
   - Four UK-national directors held oversight roles at Elbit Systems UK
   during the relevant period. As British nationals or UK-resident directors
   of a UK registered company, they fall clearly within the personal
   jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales under the ICCA.

The complaint argues that there is now sufficient credible information
about these offences having been committed in Gaza, and about the potential
contribution of UK based executives, to justify the opening of a formal
SO15 investigation using the specialist powers available under the ICCA and
domestic criminal law.

PILC said:

Our client has watched from the UK as her community in Gaza was destroyed.
She has witnessed her loved ones and countless others subjected to mass
killings, displacement, starvation, and devastation on an unimaginable
scale.

The complaint submitted on her behalf today to the Metropolitan Police War
Crimes Unit highlights the role of UK companies and their directors in acts
that constitute war crimes and genocide.

Whether the Met chooses to investigate this complaint will show whether the
ICC Act 2001 is worth the paper it’s written on. A proper investigation,
using all powers to obtain evidence and determining whether prosecutions
are possible, is the bare minimum required of a state that purports to
respect international law and the Genocide Convention.

CAAT said:

Israel’s genocide in Gaza would not be possible without Elbit Systems.
Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest arms producer, and Israel is the single
largest market for Elbit’s products. It provides 85% of the combat drones
used by the Israeli military.

Responsibility for the immeasurable horror and suffering that has been
inflicted upon the people of Gaza lies not only with the Israeli regime,
but with a globally sanctioned system of militarised corporatism that
facilitates – if not outright encourages – impunity for the most serious
violations of international law.

Individuals directing this profit-making arms company and its subsidiaries,
including Elbit Systems UK, must be held accountable for their role in
perpetrating and facilitating war crimes, crimes against humanity and
genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

*Featured image via the Canary*
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