Scotland Yard was thwarted yesterday in its attempt to seize a former senior Israeli army officer at Heathrow airport for alleged war crimes in occupied Palestinian lands after a British judge had issued a warrant for his arrest.

British detectives were waiting for retired Major General Doron Almog who was aboard an El Al flight which arrived from Israel yesterday. It is believed he was tipped off about his impending arrest while in the air and stayed on the plane to avoid capture until it flew back to Israel. Scotland Yard detectives were armed with a warrant naming Mr Almog as a war crimes suspect for offences that breached the Geneva conventions.

The Guardian understands police would have arrested him if he had set foot on British soil. The arrest warrant was issued on Saturday at Bow Street magistrates court, central London. It is believed to be the first warrant for war crimes of its kind issued in Britain against an Israeli national over conduct in the conflict with Palestinians.

Despite the alleged offences occurring in the Gaza Strip, war crimes law means Britain has a duty to arrest and prosecute alleged suspects if they arrive in Britain. The warrant alleges Mr Almog committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip in 2002 when he ordered the destruction of 59 homes near Rafah, which Palestinians say was in revenge for the death of Israeli soldiers. The warrant was issued by senior district judge Timothy Workman after an application by lawyers acting for Mr Almog's alleged Palestinian victims. According to legal sources, before granting the warrant Mr Workman decided his court had jurisdiction for the offences; that diplomatic immunity did not apply; and there was evidence to support a prima facie case for war crimes.

If Mr Almog had been arrested he would have been bailed on condition that he did not leave Britain. The attorney general would have to have sanctioned any prosecution against him for war crimes.

Mr Almog was commanding officer of the Israeli defence forces' southern command from December 2000 to July 2003. British lawyers representing Palestinians who say they suffered as a result of Mr Almog's orders had presented their evidence to Scotland Yard detectives last month and they began investigating him.

Mr Almog was due to speak at an event at Solihull synagogue.

Scotland Yard, the Foreign Office and the Israeli embassy in London all refused to officially comment. Mr Almog, who was back in Israel last night, said: "I have no comment to make at this time."

Last night the Israeli foreign ministry, said: "In the past extremist Palestinian organisations have tried to manipulate legal processes in Europe for their own cynical ends. We have no faith in these groups but we have a lot of faith in the British legal system."

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Yesterday evening Yesh Gvul released the following press announcement:

Yesh Gvul: 8 additional files of suspect Israeli officers, including Chief of Staff Dan Halutz were submitted to the English police, in addition to the investigation against Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog. Yesh Gvul has withdrawn the petition to the High Court of Justice which requested that the court order the opening of a criminal investigation into the killing of 14 innocent civilians in the course of the killing of the Hamas leader Salah Shechade

The Yesh Gvul movement is withdrawing the petition we submitted to the HCJ, which demanded to open a criminal investigation into the circumstances of the killing of 14 innocent residents of Gaza, in the course of the execution without trial of the Hamas leader Salah Shechade, by the means of dropping a one ton bomb on a densely populated neighbourhood on July 22, 2002.

Yesh Gvul spokesperson, Dr. Ishai Menuchin stated that "Yesh Gvul has lost faith in the Israeli Supreme Court's ability to rule in cases connected to the IDF's actions as an occupying force, and into grave breaches of international law including the execution of war crimes, which are the result of those actions.

Yesh Gvul warned, within the framework of the petition which was submitted by Advocates Avigdor Feldman and Michael Sfard, that "the High Court of Justice is last stop of the law enforcement train before it crosses the borders of the State of Israel".

The train has left the station with the issuing of an arrest warrant in England against the former GOC Southern Commander, Doron Almog, on the suspicion of responsibility for the committing of war crimes.

Eight additional files, which raise the suspicion that additional IDF offices are responsible for war crimes, have been submitted to English police. These are the first cars of a long train.

The High Court of Justice, which has heretofore avoided the discussion into the IDF's responsibility for the committing of war crimes, must see itself as responsible for the fact that search for justice is now taking place in England, and not in the Israeli courts.