British dual national photographed at burning Gaza school faces calls for war-crimes probe

Declassified UK published a documentary revealing that Jonathan Burman, a British national serving in the Israeli army, posed beside a burning school in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, Gaza. The photograph, first shared on Burman's private Instagram, shows extensive destruction behind him and was traced by Airwars to Madrasa al-Farabi, which suffered an attack on 12 December 2023. The Israeli military’s December statement about eliminating a terrorist cell referred to another school two kilometres away, not the one in the image.

Burman is confirmed to have served in the elite 55th Brigade, likely within its 66th Battalion, and his past posts include service in Lebanon. The film features commentary from former battalion medic Yuval Green and UN Commission member Chris Sidoti, who urged the London Metropolitan Police’s war-crimes unit to investigate. Approximately 2,000 British-Israeli dual nationals are believed to have fought in Gaza, a conflict the UN has labeled a genocide, while the Met previously declined to pursue war-crimes cases against ten other British nationals.