Gaza Herald— A British man who joined the Israeli military during its genocidal campaign in Gaza has been identified posing in front of a burned United Nations school where displaced Palestinian families had sought refuge, according to a four-month investigation by Declassified UK that has prompted calls for a war crimes investigation.
Jonathan Burman, a man in his mid-20s from Manchester, served with Israeli forces in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, and published photographs on his private Instagram account showing himself smiling outside the fire-damaged Al-Farabi Primary School in January 2024.
The photographs were provided to Declassified UK by a source concerned about his conduct. Investigators used eyewitness testimony, satellite imagery, and geolocation analysis to identify the building as a school operated by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
The investigation also linked Burman to an Israeli military unit whose former members have described the deliberate destruction of Palestinian homes.
A School Where Displaced Families Sought Safety
Before Israeli forces entered the area, Al-Farabi School in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, had become a shelter for Palestinian families fleeing bombardment and forced displacement.
Satellite images from November 2023 showed the schoolyard filled with white emergency shelters. Large letters spelling “UN” were painted on the roof, identifying the building as a United Nations facility.
Ayman Sahmoud, 56, was among the Palestinians who sought refuge there with his family in December 2023 after being forced to abandon their home.
“We fled our residence with nothing,” he told Declassified UK. “We abandoned all our possessions behind us.”
He recalled arriving to find the school overcrowded with families who had nowhere else to go.
“We could barely secure a space to sleep,” he said.
But the school offered little protection from the bombardment surrounding it.
Sahmoud described Israeli airstrikes shaking the building as nearby residential areas were destroyed.
He said an Israeli strike eventually hit the school’s main entrance, killing two Palestinians.
“At that exact moment, we realized the bloody message was clear: we had to evacuate the shelter entirely,” he recalled.
Israeli drones subsequently dropped evacuation leaflets, forcing Sahmoud and his family to flee again, this time toward Rafah.
Other displaced families remained because they had nowhere to go. According to Sahmoud, Israeli soldiers eventually surrounded the school and forced those inside to leave at gunpoint.
Palestinian Mother Recalls Escaping Under Tank Fire
Randa Abu Assi, 42, also sheltered at Al-Farabi School during the Israeli offensive.
She described how shrapnel from nearby airstrikes penetrated the building and wounded Palestinians sheltering inside.
“My foot was torn by shrapnel,” she said.
Her 21-year-old son, Bahaa, was also seriously injured, with shrapnel remaining embedded in both his legs, according to her account.
As the bombardment intensified, families gradually abandoned the building.
Abu Assi said she remained with a small group until staying became impossible.
“We escaped under direct tank fire and survived purely by a miracle,” she recalled.
She said Israeli forces entered the school on December 12, 2023.
Local Palestinian journalists subsequently described the detention and mistreatment of civilians taken from the building.
Journalist Ismail Abu Omar said Israeli soldiers released some Palestinians detained at the school while continuing to hold three others.
According to his account, those released described being blindfolded, stripped, forced to walk barefoot in freezing conditions, and subjected to abuse.
Investigators Identify School in British Soldier’s Photos
Declassified UK established the location of Burman’s photographs through interviews with Palestinian witnesses and independent spatial analysis.
Three Palestinian witnesses identified the building as Al-Farabi School.
Investigators also consulted three geolocation specialists, who compared Burman’s photographs with satellite imagery and video published by Reuters in April 2024.
The analysis identified matching graffiti, walls, and architectural features.
Ryan Geitner of Airwars said the comparison provided a high degree of confidence that the photographs and video showed the same location.
The investigation also examined Israeli military statements concerning operations at a school in Khan Younis.
An Israeli military spokesperson said troops had encountered armed fighters and discovered weapons and underground military infrastructure at a school in the area.
However, Airwars geolocated the video supplied by the Israeli military to a different educational facility, approximately 1.9 kilometers northeast of Al-Farabi.
The footage therefore did not substantiate the military’s explanation for the destruction of Al-Farabi School.
Further analysis by the Hind Rajab Foundation indicated that Burman’s unit may not have been stationed at the school until January 8, 2024, several weeks after displaced civilians were forced to leave.
The investigation documents Burman’s presence at the damaged building but does not establish that he personally set the school on fire.
Former Israeli Soldier Describes Burning Palestinian Homes
The Israeli military confirmed to Declassified UK that Burman served in the 55th Reserve Paratrooper Brigade.
Research by the Hind Rajab Foundation placed him in Company B of the brigade’s 66th Battalion.
Yuval Green, a former Israeli military medic who served in the same battalion but a different company, described a culture of revenge and widespread destruction during the Gaza offensive.
Green said commanders encouraged soldiers to view Palestinians as enemies and that some troops openly supported the expulsion of Palestinian communities.
He also described orders to burn civilian homes that Israeli soldiers had occupied.
“Fifty days after invading Gaza, commanders ordered us to burn down every residential home we had occupied,” Green told Declassified UK.
Green said he challenged the order and refused to participate.
“They torched the houses, I withdrew from the unit, and that was the end,” he recalled.
Although Green did not witness the burning of Al-Farabi School, he said he was disturbed by the photographs of Burman smiling outside the destroyed building.
“Observe their grins,” Green said. “For them, burning down a civilian building is treated like an exciting adventure.”
British Soldier Returned to UK After Gaza Deployment
Burman’s social media activity also placed him inside destroyed Palestinian residential areas during his deployment.
In a photograph posted on December 31, 2023, he appeared seated in an armchair inside a damaged Palestinian home, wearing military equipment.
Another photograph showed him carrying a rifle among the ruins of residential buildings, with scattered furniture and a child’s bicycle visible nearby.
On January 31, 2024, Burman wrote that he had been out of Gaza for several days.
Israeli military radio confirmed that the 55th Brigade had withdrawn from the territory on January 28.
According to the investigation, Burman subsequently posted photographs indicating military deployments in Lebanon and Syria.
His social media activity also placed him at a football match at Old Trafford in Manchester in May 2026.
Burman did not respond to requests for comment from Declassified UK. The Israeli Embassy in London also did not provide a response to the investigation’s questions.
Calls for British Authorities to Investigate
The investigation has renewed attention on British nationals who served with Israeli forces during the Gaza genocide.
According to Declassified UK, approximately 2,000 British dual nationals served in the Israeli military during the campaign.
The investigation also described public demands for British authorities to examine whether returning soldiers may have participated in violations of international humanitarian law.
More than 25,000 people have signed a petition calling for the British government to monitor British nationals serving in the Israeli military, screen returning personnel, and investigate credible allegations of war crimes.
Chris Sidoti, a member of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, praised the investigative methods used to identify Burman and reconstruct events at the school.
He said photographs and videos published by soldiers can provide valuable evidence for investigations into possible war crimes.
Sidoti called on the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit to investigate Burman’s conduct.
Under international humanitarian law, extensive destruction of civilian property that is not justified by military necessity and is carried out unlawfully and wantonly can constitute a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Individual criminal responsibility, however, must be established through an investigation and the applicable legal process.
For the Palestinian families who once sheltered at Al-Farabi School, the destruction meant losing yet another place of refuge.
They had arrived carrying what little they could salvage from their homes, hoping that the United Nations building would offer protection.
Instead, they endured bombardment, injuries, detention, and another forced flight.
Weeks after those families fled, a British soldier stood smiling outside the burned school that had briefly been their home.
