Complicit: Britain’s Role in the Destruction of Gaza

Commencing with a detailed overview of the January 2024 hearing at the International Court of Justice of South Africa’s allegations of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Peter Oborne contrasts two different realities in his book: one based on evidence, and the other contradicting evidence. “One challenge in proving the crime of genocide is that the perpetrators often go to great lengths to hide their intentions,” Oborne writes. Israel failed to hide genocidal intent. However, the Foreign Office issued a statement to the contrary: “Our view is that Israel’s actions in Gaza cannot be described as a genocide.”

Departing from these two contrasting realities – the reality of genocide and the reality of British politics, Complicit, Britain’s Role in the Destruction of Gaza (OR Books, 2025) details all the intricacies of Britain’s political and media collusion with Israel and what potentially could be at stake for British ministers aiding Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Oborne notes that the Genocide Convention is incorporated in British domestic law and Section 52 also makes it an offence to enable and assist in genocide – something that investigative journalism has uncovered in Britain. 

“In a democracy, even one as flawed as Britain, and even in the relatively insulated sphere of foreign affairs, political projects need to command a degree of popular consent,” Oborne writes. The book notes that collusion happened between the two main political parties and also across mainstream media in Britain; the latter serving as propaganda outlets for Israeli and British politicians. Both served to also suppress demonstrators against the genocide in Gaza, despite Britain’s history of popular protest; the most recent example before Israel’s genocide in Gaza being the 2003 invasion of Iraq. 

Oborne notes that since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Britain assured Israel of its support. Notably, the Labour Party did not oppose then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to lend military support to Israel without putting it to a vote in parliament. Just a few days after 7 October, Labour Leader Keir Starmer affirmed that Israel has the right to impose a siege on Gaza but that everything should be done within international law parameters. Both Labour and the Tories opposed ceasefires and opted for humanitarian pauses. Discussing Israel’s attacks on the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Oborne notes that Britain did not reverse its position on suspending funds to the agency, as other countries did, thus aligning its position with that of the US, directly supporting Israel’s narrative. Discussing Britain’s military support for Israel, Oborne writes, “The Labour leadership’s position reflected its embrace of a US-led foreign policy.”

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The book provides a thorough assessment of how British media portrayed Israel’s narratives throughout the genocide. Not only was there no challenge to Israel’s narrative, but vital contextual information was left out, while refusing to feature Jewish voices that stand against Israeli colonial violence such as Ilan Pappe and Avi Shlaim. Noting the influence of the pro-Israel lobby on British media, Oborne notes how this not only targeted journalists that stepped out of the propaganda line, but also affected news coverage: “The BBC employed the world ‘massacre’ almost eighteen times more often in relation to Israeli than to Palestinian victims – and never used the term in headlines about Israeli atrocities.”

Much of Israel’s colonial violence was left out of reporting, not only historical timelines and events, but also Israeli military directives such as the Hannibal Directive and the Dahiya Doctrine that would have contextualised much of Israel’s aggressive actions as well as debunked the earlier reporting based merely on Israeli fabrications. Neither was Israel’s genocidal intent, uttered clearly by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli politicians, reported about. This, Oborne notes, stands in contrast to South Africa’s ICJ case. The book further notes that, “One more than a hundred occasions BBC presenters shut down genocide claims made by BBC guests.”

Oborne’s discussion of the British political and media landscape since 7 October 2023 is also rooted in the historical context of Balfour imperialism and Zionist aspirations. The book gives a concise overview major events on the colonisation of Palestine and Britain’s role or response, noting that since the collapse of the British Empire, Britain’s role became minor in world politics and ultimately mirrored the US stance that furthered Zionist colonisation. Britain also refused to hold talks with Hamas in 2007, despite advice by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, aligning instead with the Western policy that interfered in Palestinian politics in efforts to topple Hamas. 

Starmer’s silence on Israel’s genocide in Gaza makes for an interesting read. Oborne recalls the refusal to call for a ceasefire, aligning the Labour party’s position with that of British geopolitical interests. In contrast to his earlier work as human rights lawyer defending Croatia at the ICJ, over allegations of genocide committed by Serbian forces in 1991, Starmer took an opposite stance on Gaza, despite the fact that the arguments he used at the court to highlight Croatia’s case could have been adapted to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. 

Oborne also highlights how Britain’s alignment with the US regarding Israel became more difficult with the Trump administration. Rhetoric in Britain shifted to emulate that of European countries and British media followed suit. However, the government still shielded Israel from accusations of genocide and maintained its military aid as well as surveillance flights: “Britain exported more pounds worth of military equipment in the final three months of 2024 – after the suspension of twenty-nine export licences by the Labour government – than it had done in the years 2020-23 combined.” 

As for justice, the international complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza, including Britain’s, has opened new avenues, notably coalitions that work internationally to seek legal recourse: “Even if one country fails – even if the ICC fails – 195 states will not fail.” Oborne’s conclusion to the book brings power to the people, as opposed to letting it rest within the highest echelons. 

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