British man pictured at burned Gaza school faces war crimes probe

A British citizen who served in the Israeli military has been identified posing in front of a burned school in Gaza, prompting calls for a war crimes investigation. An inquiry identified the man as Jonathan Burman, who served with the 55th Brigade in Khan Younis during the conflict.

The photographs showed Burman smiling outside the fire-damaged Al-Farabi Primary School in January 2024. Investigators used satellite imagery and eyewitness testimony to confirm the location. The building had previously sheltered displaced Palestinian families fleeing bombardment and forced displacement from their homes.

Ayman Sahmoud, who sought refuge there, recalled Israeli strikes hitting the entrance and killing two people. He stated that soldiers eventually surrounded the school and forced those inside to leave at gunpoint. Other witnesses described shrapnel injuries and detention mistreatment during the Israeli offensive on the facility.

Yuval Green, a former medic in the same battalion, described a culture of revenge among troops. He said commanders ordered soldiers to burn occupied residential homes. Green noted he refused such orders but expressed disturbance at Burman’s photographs, stating that burning civilian buildings was treated like an adventure.

Chris Sidoti of the UN Commission of Inquiry said the evidence warranted further investigation by London's Metropolitan Police. He stressed that the photos did not establish Burman’s guilt individually. The Israeli military confirmed Burman served in the reserve paratrooper unit but did not respond to questions about the specific incident.