Israeli army colonel Elad Edri (circled) graduates from the Royal College of Defence Studies at a ceremony in Chelsea, July 2025. (Photo: RCDS)
After months of secrecy from Labour, we expose where Israeli troops have trained in Britain during the Gaza genocide.
Israeli army officers have been allowed to study at a British military academy in central London throughout the Gaza genocide, Declassified can reveal.
At least two Israeli colonels have attended the prestigious Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) since 2023.
One of the soldiers, thought to be Elad Edri, only graduated a fortnight ago.
Another officer, Yeftah Norkin, completed the course in July 2024 and almost immediately led the army’s “Bang” division in Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.
Norkin, who comes from an influential military family, commanded a patrol company in Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s 2008-9 war in Gaza which killed hundreds of children.
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While Sandhurst teaches junior army officers, the RCDS mentors mid-ranking troops who have ambitions to climb the chain of command, awarding them a post-graduate certificate in international security studies.
The college describes itself as “a world-renowned institution committed to developing strategic thinkers… who have the potential to reach the highest ranks”.
RCDS alumni include Major General Hidai Zilberman, the former IDF spokesperson and now Israeli defence attaché to the US, and General Harel Knfao, who served as Chief of Staff of Israel’s Southern Command.
The Royal College of Defence Studies on Belgrave Square, London. (Photo: Simon Turner / Alamy)
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.UK Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary repeatedly heckled at a speech to the Fabian Society over his and the Labour Party’s support for and complicity in Israel’s genocide of Gaza.Vote Labour for Genocide.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs meeting as the Israeli Security Cabinet gather to approve a cease-fire agreement and a prisoner swap deal with Hamas, in West Jerusalem on January 17, 2025. [Photo by Koby Gideon (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to fully occupy the Gaza Strip and expand military operations in the enclave, local media said on Monday evening.
“The die is cast — we are going for a full occupation of the Gaza Strip,” a senior official close to Netanyahu was quoted as saying by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
“There will be operations even in areas where hostages are being held. If the IDF (army) chief of staff doesn’t agree, he should resign.”
Israeli Channel 12 said the decision signals a major shift in Israel’s Gaza strategy, with operations now expected in densely populated areas, including central refugee camps.
The public broadcaster KAN, citing ministers who recently spoke with Netanyahu, said the premier decided to broaden military operations in Gaza despite opposition from the security establishment.
Yedioth Ahronoth claimed that US President Donald Trump had given Netanyahu a “green light” to proceed with the expanded assault.
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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
People walk down a street surrounded by buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in the Gaza Strip, July 29, 2025
ISRAELI ministers have again exposed how hollow are Western claims to back a two-state solution.
Yet global opinion on Israel’s colonial project has reached a tipping point — and the prospect of real change cannot be dismissed.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir leads settlers in a march through occupied East Jerusalem. En route, he calls for Israel to annex Gaza.
Defence Minister Israel Katz decrees: “We will strengthen our hold and sovereignty over Jerusalem, at the Western Wall, and the Temple Mount, forever.”
These are not aberrations: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that he will never tolerate a Palestinian state.
Faced with such extremism, any government serious about a Palestinian state would need to impose tough conditions on Israel: full withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza included.
Yet what conditions do they seek to apply?
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says Britain will recognise Palestine unless Israel “takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza.”
Feeble as that is, at least Starmer makes demands of the aggressor, Israel.
Canada’s Mark Carney decided to lecture the people being massacred. Canada would recognise Palestine — subject to democratic reforms, including elections in which (very democratically) Hamas would be banned.
France’s Emmanuel Macron repeated that an independent Palestine would need to be demilitarised — as if Palestine threatens the existence of Israel, rather than the other way around.
The coloniser’s mindset. Palestine can be “independent,” but only if it chooses leaders we like, and has no means of defending itself.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Vote Labour for Genocide.UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Vote Labour for Genocide.
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6-year-old Misk al-Madhoun, who weighing only 4 kilograms, struggle with both brain atrophy and severe malnutrition caused by hunger in Gaza City, Gaza on July 31, 2025. [Khames Alrefi – Anadolu Agency]
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Friday urged the international community to act swiftly to prevent the mass death of children in the Gaza Strip, where conditions continue to deteriorate amid Israel’s ongoing war, Anadolu reports.
“Today, I want to keep the focus on Gaza, because it’s in Gaza where the suffering is most acute and where children are dying at an unprecedented rate.
“We are at a crossroads, and the choices made now will determine whether tens of thousands of children live or die,” Ted Chaiban, UNICEF deputy executive director, said at a briefing on his recent travel to the Middle East.
Visiting both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, including both Gaza and the West Bank, Chaiban said this was his fourth visit to Gaza since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023.
“You see the images on the news, and you know what has happened, but it’s still shocking when you’re there; the marks of deep suffering and hunger are visible on the faces of families and children,” he said.
Over 18,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war, he underlined.
“Gaza now faces a grave risk of famine. … One in three people in Gaza are going days without food, and the malnutrition indicator has exceeded the famine threshold, with global acute malnutrition now at over 16.5%. Today, more than 320,000 young children are at risk of acute malnutrition,” he added.
What is happening on the ground is “inhumane,” he said, adding that what children need from all communities is a sustained ceasefire and a political way forward.
When asked whether he sees any difference after more and more countries are airdropping aid into Gaza, Chaiban said: “Look, at this stage, every modality needs to be used, every gate, every route, every modality, but airdrops cannot replace the volume and the scale that convoys by road can achieve.”
Chaiban stressed that it is needed to move back towards a volume of around 500 trucks a day through all routes, and that includes both humanitarian and commercial aid.
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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWREUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
People walk down a street surrounded by buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in the Gaza Strip, July 29, 2025
