Hamas planned to exhume the graves of British and Commonwealth troops buried in Gaza and use the remains as leverage to blackmail the British government, according to a report by the Telegraph on Friday, later echoed by The Sun and Daily Mail.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has maintained a cemetery in Gaza for over a century, containing the remains of more than 3,000 Commonwealth troops from the World Wars. Many of these soldiers died in 1917, fighting the Ottomans during a conflict that led to British rule in Palestine.
2 View gallery
An IDF soldier pays homage to a Jewish soldier buried in the British military cemetery in the central Gaza Strip
(Photo: Courtesy of the IDF 188th Brigade)
The reports indicate that Israeli forces discovered a seven-page document detailing the plan, dated October 5, 2022. The document outlined the terror group's intention to pressure the UK government into reversing its stance on Jerusalem following then-Prime Minister Liz Truss's announcement to relocate the British embassy from Tel Aviv.
Other demands included paying "lease fees" for the cemetery land dating back to 1917. The document warns that if the UK does not comply, the bodies would be removed and held "captive."
Though predating the current war, the threat outlined in the document remains real, according to Israeli officials. “The tactic depicted in this document is intended to quite literally terrorize the people of the UK as a whole in order to influence political decisions,” an Israeli official told The Telegraph. “There is no way to rule out that Hamas will use this strategy or other similar ones to influence external affairs or anything within their agenda in the future.”
2 View gallery
The British military cemetery in the central Gaza Strip
(Photo: Courtesy of the IDF 188th Brigade)
Israeli officials say the document was found in a plastic sleeve among a cache related to the group’s dealings with Hezbollah and other international terrorist organizations. It was marked “M’Raed”.
“[This] is possibly referring to Raed Salim Khalek, head of the Information and OSINT (open source intelligence) department in the Hamas military intelligence directorate”, the Israeli intelligence commentary on the document adds.
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrived in Israel on Friday as part of efforts to secure a Gaza cease-fire, with talks in Doha reportedly nearing a deal.