UK Gaza inquiry petition passes 100,000 signatures, prompting debate consideration

A petition seeking a public inquiry into Britain's involvement in Israeli operations in Gaza has passed 100,000 signatures. An update on the UK Parliament petitions website dated November 9 says the Petitions Committee will consider it for debate.

The threshold does not guarantee a debate, establish an inquiry or require the government to accept the petition's demands. It starts parliamentary consideration of whether the subject should be debated. The petition remains open until April 23, 2027.

Created by Jennifer Forbes, the petition calls for an independent inquiry into British involvement since October 2023, including weapons sales and supply, surveillance aircraft and the use of Royal Air Force bases. It seeks powers to question ministers and officials about those decisions, intelligence collected during flights and the legal advice the government obtained.

Campaigners describe the issue in terms of alleged British complicity in genocide. Those are the campaign's allegations and demands for investigation, not findings established by reaching the signature threshold. The official petition says its supporters believe Britain played a significant role in Israeli military operations.

The website records that the petition was published on October 23 and crossed the separate 10,000-signature threshold for a government response on October 26. The latest milestone concerns possible parliamentary debate; it does not itself settle the claims raised by signatories.