A British coroner has opened the door to a significantly broader investigation into the 2024 Israeli drone strike in Gaza that killed three British aid workers, with new scope to examine evidence from both Israeli and UK military forces and probe whether British-manufactured weapons were used in the deadly attack.
The first pre-inquest review hearing held Monday at Avon Coroner’s Court in Bristol saw Senior Coroner Maria Voisin signal that the scope of the upcoming final inquiry will be expanded to include a full examination of the role Israeli authorities played in the three deaths. The victims, all former British military personnel working for security firm Solace Global at the time of the strike, were 47-year-old James Kirby from Bristol, 57-year-old John Chapman from Poole in Dorset, and 33-year-old James “Jim” Henderson from Falmouth in Cornwall. In addition to the three British citizens, the April 1, 2024 attack also killed Palestinian, Australian, Canadian, and Polish aid workers who were all part of a World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid convoy.
The deaths have remained a source of international controversy for months, particularly after a bombshell pre-recorded television interview released last month saw Colonel Nochi Mendel, the Israeli army officer who ordered the strike, say he felt “not sorry” for the attack and stood by his decision to target the convoy. Immediately following the strike, the Israeli military removed Mendel from his position as chief of staff of the Nahal infantry brigade. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has acknowledged the strike stemmed from a string of operational failures, including clear breaches of its own rules of engagement and internal standard operating procedures. However, in August the IDF announced it would not launch any criminal investigation into the strike, a decision that drew sharp condemnation from the governments of the UK, Canada, and Australia, with the three countries describing the choice as shameful.
Up to this point, the UK coroner’s inquest had only been focused on examining the roles of WCK and Solace Global, the private security firm tasked with protecting the aid convoy. But during Monday’s hearing, Voisin confirmed she was prepared to grant interested person status to both the IDF and Colonel Mendel, a procedural move that grants those parties formal access to evidence, the right to present testimony, and participation in the inquiry proceedings. Under UK coroner rules, interested person status is extended to any individual or organization with a direct connection to a death under investigation, including parties potentially implicated in causing the death.
Tayab Ali, the solicitor representing Kirby’s family, issued a statement welcoming the coroner’s decision. Speaking after the hearing, Ali noted that Kirby’s family has waited two and a half years for a full accounting of what happened. “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 wrote on social media platform X.
Ali added that on behalf of Kirby’s family, he has formally requested the coroner also compel testimony from the UK Ministry of Defence, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. The legal team has also asked the coroner to investigate whether a Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft that was operating over Gaza on the day of the strike passed intelligence about the aid convoy to the IDF, a question that remains unresolved.
Pete Weatherby KC, a barrister representing Henderson’s family, laid out the family’s key demands in a formal submission to the court. The legal team wants the inquiry to investigate whether an RAF surveillance plane that circled over Gaza for approximately five hours on the day of the attack gathered information that was subsequently shared with Israeli forces, noting the plane returned to its base just minutes before the strike was carried out. Weatherby added that the families also are demanding answers on whether the weapons used in the strike were manufactured in the UK, a question that Weatherby emphasized is a major matter of public concern across the UK.
Neil Henderson, father of victim Jim Henderson, said in a statement that the family hopes the expanded inquest will fully examine “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.” For months, families of the three British victims have pushed for full transparency and legal accountability, after Israel’s decision to forgo a domestic criminal investigation left their calls for justice unanswered.