An Arab human rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) has filed a request for United Kingdom sanctions to be lodged against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over “incitement to violence and genocide against Palestinians” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

British law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn filed the request on Tuesday with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on behalf of the Arab Organisation for Human Rights UK (AOHR UK), seeking targeted financial and travel sanctions against the Israeli leader.

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The submission argues that there are reasonable grounds to apply sanctions on Netanyahu, including previous statements he has made rejecting a Palestinian state and “religiously framed genocidal rhetoric such as invoking biblical references to the destruction of the ‘Amalek’”.

The “Amalek” is known in Jewish tradition as representing pure evil, but it is used by the Israeli far right to describe and justify the mass annihilation of Palestinians.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 71,551 people have been killed and 171,372 others wounded since Israel began its genocidal war in October 2023.

Last year, a United Nations inquiry found that statements from Netanyahu and Israel’s top leadership had amounted to the ” incitement to commit genocide” in Gaza during the war.

The submission adds that sanctions should be applied to Netanyahu over his responsibility for “unlawful military operations in Gaza” as he is the country’s highest-ranking official.

Moreover, it pointed to the prime minister’s role in the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, which have been condemned by the UK.

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“The UK has already acknowledged that senior Israeli officials have promoted serious abuses of Palestinian rights,” says Mohammed Jamil, the chairman of AOHR UK, referring to an announcement last year where the British government applied sanctions against Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“It is no longer credible to sanction ministers while exempting the prime minister who authorises, endorses, and directs the policies in question. Accountability cannot stop short of the highest office,” Jamil added.

The UK government has largely supported Israel throughout its war on Gaza, and though it has recognised a Palestinian state, it has not called the Israeli mass killing of civilians in Gaza a genocide.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in November 2023 for Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant after they were accused of “crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024”.

At the same time, Israel continues to face a case at the International Court of Justice after South Africa lodged a case accusing Israel of committing genocide during its war in Gaza.