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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2026/02/20/legal-group-calls-on-met-police-to-investigate-elbit-systems-uk-directors/">thecanary.co</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Legal group calls on Met Police to investigate Elbit Systems UK directors</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">The Canary</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">February 20, 2026</div>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.pilc.org.uk/" rel="external noopener noreferrer">Public Interest Law Centre (PILC)</a>, with the support of <a href="https://caat.org.uk/" rel="external noopener noreferrer">Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT)</a>, has today submitted a detailed complaint to the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) concerning <a href="https://www.thecanary.co/topics/israel/" target="_self" rel="noopener noreferrer">Israeli</a> arms company Elbit Systems.</p>
<h2>The case against Elbit Systems</h2>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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\u2019 corporate structure and UK operations, and the publicly
available evidence linking the company to attacks in Gaza.</p>
<p>PILC is bringing the complaint on behalf of a Palestinian national
living in the UK whose close family remain in Gaza. It asks SO15\u2019s 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.</p>
<p>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 \u201ccommitting war crimes before our
eyes\u201d in Gaza.</p>
<p>Amnesty International UK has <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.uk/latest/uk-amnesty-warns-on-gaza-following-wes-streeting-comments/" rel="external noopener noreferrer">now warned the government not to row back</a> from that assessment and reiterated its call for an immediate suspension of UK arms transfers to Israel.</p>
<p>CAAT has long documented Elbit Systems\u2019 role in Israeli military operations and its UK-based subsidiaries. For more background, <a href="https://caat.org.uk/data/companies/elbit-systems/" rel="external noopener noreferrer">see CAAT\u2019s factsheets</a>.</p>
<h2>Key points from the complaint</h2>
<p>The complaint argues that the facts clearly meet SO15\u2019s own \u2018scoping
criteria\u2019 for opening a war-crimes investigation. In particular, it
highlights that:</p>
<ul><li>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.</li><li>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.</li><li>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.</li><li>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.</li></ul>
<p>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.</p>
<p>PILC said:</p>
<blockquote><p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Whether the Met chooses to investigate this complaint will show
whether the ICC Act 2001 is worth the paper it\u2019s 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.</p></blockquote>
<p>CAAT said:</p>
<blockquote><p>Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza would not be possible without
Elbit Systems. Elbit Systems is Israel\u2019s largest arms producer, and
Israel is the single largest market for Elbit\u2019s products. It provides
85% of the combat drones used by the Israeli military.</p>
<p>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 \u2013 if not outright encourages \u2013 impunity for the most
serious violations of international law.</p>
<p>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.</p></blockquote>
<p><em>Featured image via the Canary</em></p>
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