Israeli and UK army chiefs may take part in inquest into slain British aid workers in Gaza

The inquest concerning the Israeli operation that killed three British aid workers in Gaza in 2024 is expected to be expanded to bring in evidence from the Israeli and UK militaries and whether British-made weapons were used in the attack. 

At the first pre-inquest review at Avon Coroner's Court in Bristol on Monday, senior coroner Maria Voisin indicated that the scope of the final hearing could be expanded to include the role of Israeli authorities in the deaths.

The three British air workers are James Kirby, 47, of Bristol, John Chapman, 57, of Poole, Dorset, and James "Jim" Henderson, 33, of Falmouth, Cornwall.

The families are seeking explanations and accountability for what happened that day.

Those killed in the attack included Palestinian, Australian, Canadian and Polish nationals. 

Last month, Colonel Nochi Mendel, the Israeli army officer who ordered the drone strike that killed the seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers, said in a TV interview pre-recorded a year earlier that he is “not sorry” for the attack and that he stood by the decision to strike the aid convoy on 1 April 2024.

Mendel was removed from his post as chief of staff of the Israeli military’s Nahal infantry brigade after the attack.

The Israeli army said the strike resulted from a series of failures, including breaches of its rules of engagement and standard operating procedures.

But in August, it said it would not open a criminal investigation into the attack.

The decision was condemned as “shameful” by the UK, Canada and Australia.

‘Open questions’

So far, the inquest has been focused on the role of the WCK and the security firm protecting the convoy.

The three men formerly served in the British army and were working for the Dorset-based security firm Solace Global at the time of the attack.

But Voisin replied “yes” to a question by Alison Hewitt, counsel to the inquest, on whether she was "minded to grant" the Israeli army and Colonel Mendel "interested person" status. 

An interested person can be a close relative of the person who has died but can also include those persons or organisations with a connection to the victim’s death, including those who contributed to it or caused it.

'What today means is that Colonel Mendel and the IDF can now take part, see the evidence and give their account'

- Tayab Ali, lawyer for James Kirby's family

Tayab Ali, the solicitor for James Kirby's family, welcomed the coroner’s statement.

“My clients have waited two and a half years for an answer,” he wrote on X. “What today means is that Colonel Mendel and the IDF can now take part, see the evidence and give their account, in a court that will properly examine what happened. James's family would like to hear from him.”

Ali added that on behalf of Kirby’s family, he has asked the coroner to hear from the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign Office and the Israeli military manufacturer Elbit Systems. 

He also said that he asked the coroner to establish whether a Royal Airforce aircraft over Gaza that day passed information to the Israeli army. 

“Those questions remain open,” he said.

Pete Weatherby KC, a barrister representing Henderson, wrote in a submission to the court that the families of victims would like to know whether any information was gathered by Royal Air Force surveillance plane that hovered for about five hours over Gaza on the same day of the attack, and whether the plane shared any intelligence with the Israeli army. The plane returned to its base minutes before the attack, he wrote.

Weatherby also told a hearing in Flax Bourton that the family is also seeking to know whether the weapons that killed the three men were made in the UK, and that such a question was a “matter of public concern”.

Meanwhile, Henderson’s father, Neil Henderson, said in a statement that the family hopes the coroner’s investigation would include “the decisions and policies leading to the attack, and what role, if any, UK authorities or military equipment originating from the UK may have played.”