The co-leader of the Scottish Green Party has called for UK citizens who fought for Israel in Gaza to be tried for war crimes when they return home. Ross Greer labelled the conflict in the Middle East “the worst war atrocity of our age” and called on Scotland’s top prosecutor to “make sure that every single one of these war criminals is arrested and prosecuted” at the Scottish Greens’ conference on Saturday. He also called for businesses in Scotland to cut all ties with Israel and insisted his party would “never forget what has been inflicted on Palestine” and “never stop pushing for justice”.
Describing the attack on Gaza as a “genocide”, he warned that the current ceasefire in the region meant there was a “huge amount of pressure to just forget, to just move on as if the last two years didn’t happen”. “Our most important role in the time ahead is in ensuring that every individual who has inflicted this genocide is held to justice,” Mr Greer said.
“Because over the coming weeks and months we will face a reality of people who went from the UK to serve in Israel’s occupation forces, who have spent the last two years inflicting that genocide on the people of Palestine, returning here.
“War criminals returning to walk our streets and live in our communities. That’s why the Scottish Greens are calling on our Government and on the Lord Advocate to make sure that ever Scots law.”ery single one of these war criminals is arrested and prosecuted, because a war crime anywhere in the world is a war crime und
The co-party leader’s remarks come days after a ceasefire deal was signed between Israel and Hamas after the two-year war left 68,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The incursion was sparked by Hamas-led militants killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251 in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Hamas has yet to return the remains of all the hostages, with US President Donald Trump warning that he would support Israel resuming the war if the terror group doesn’t fulfil its obligations and return the 28 bodies.
The handover has been complicated by the scope of devastation in Gaza and the presence of unexploded ordnance, according to reports. Hamas has also told mediators that some bodies are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.
