Hamas Planned to Dig Up UK Soldiers' Bodies

Israeli soldiers reportedly discovered a disturbing plan by Hamas to exhume the remains of British and Commonwealth soldiers buried in Gaza, as detailed in a seven-page document. The plot, conceived in 2022, aimed to leverage the remains as hostages to deter the UK from relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move proposed by then-Prime Minister Liz Truss. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) allege that the plan was orchestrated by Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad Deif, the latter of whom was killed in a July airstrike. The cemetery in question contains the remains of over 3,000 British soldiers, many of whom died during World War I while fighting the Ottomans in 1917. According to the plan, Hamas intended to demand that UK officials either relocate the bodies or pay "lease fees" dating back to 1917. The document warned that failure to comply would result in the Gaza Municipality taking action to remove the corpses, declaring them "captive" until a resolution was reached. Truss ultimately abandoned the embassy relocation plan, leading to the apparent scrapping of Hamas's scheme. However, an unnamed Israeli official cautioned that the threat could resurface, suggesting that Hamas might employ similar tactics in the future to influence political decisions in the UK. The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has also resulted in damage to the cemetery, raising concerns about the preservation of the soldiers' graves.