Several Labour MPs raised concerns over the UK’s stance towards Israel on Thursday, accusing the government of double standards as they called for further sanctions in light of recent attacks on Gaza.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the House of Commons that the resumption of Israeli military action in Gaza had resulted in an “appalling loss of life”, and said the UK is working with France and Germany to send Israel a “clear message” that they “strongly oppose” the resumption of hostilities. It appeared that the beleaguered Foreign Secretary had been sent to make a statement on Gaza by No 10 Downing Street to placate the anger of Labour backbenchers fed up with the government’s position on Israel.
But he faced stinging criticism of the UK’s failure to censure Israel for restarting the war and was heckled by some opposition MPs as he stopped short of repeating his previous remarks that there had been a “breach of international law” by Israel – he instead said the UK government believes there is a “clear risk” of this happening. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed in the past 48 hours, more than half of them women and children, a Gaza health official told Reuters.
Imran Hussain, Labour MP for Bradford East, said: “The double standards and injustice we are witnessing on the international stage is truly appalling. It’s obvious that Israel is breaking international law as every serious legal expert on international law has pointed out.
“It’s shameful, frankly, that the government refuses to state that about Israel, but will likely do so about Russia’s violation in Ukraine, and I say to the Foreign Secretary, the concern and outrage he expresses at the despatch box is not ending the bloodshed. When will we get the scale of sanctions on Israel that its war crimes demand?”
Labour MP Emily Thornberry, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said: “The renewed bombing in Gaza cannot be justified, the renewed siege of Gaza cannot be justified. And it is difficult to see how either of those is compatible with international law. It will be for a court to decide and there will be a reckoning.”
Kit Malthouse, a former Conservative cabinet minister, told the Foreign Secretary that the “Israelis have now crossed a monstrous red line”. He added: “This morning, ministers were out on the airwaves offering British troops to keep the peace between Ukraine and Russia. What is it about the Palestinian people that means they’re less deserving of that kind of protection?”
Much of the anger was directed at Mr Lammy himself after he told parliament on Monday that Israel’s action in cutting off aid to Gaza amounted to a breach of international law. He was later corrected by Downing Street, which caveated his statement with the words “at clear risk”, a phrase Mr Lammy repeated frequently after he was sent to the Commons to make amends.
“It's difficult to see how denying humanitarian assistance to a civilian population can be compatible with international humanitarian law, though it's important to say I could have been a little clearer in the House on Monday," he told MPs. "But our position remains that Israel's actions in Gaza are at clear risk of breaching international humanitarian law.”
At times he was emotional in condemning Israel's conduct, stating in reference to the estimated 59 remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza that military action “is not the way to bring them home” and saying the 49,000 Palestinian deaths were "staggering ... staggering". He said that “darkness has returned” to the region and that “days of death, deprivation and destruction” lay ahead if Israel continued its attacks.
But evidence of Britain’s diminished influence came as Mr Lammy was reduced to announcing that Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, would very soon land in Israel to resume talks on a ceasefire. At one moment during the debate he dramatically announced that Hamas had fired missiles towards Tel Aviv “and sirens are going off as I speak”.
Mr Lammy then stressed that he would in a “matter of hours” be speaking to his Israeli counterpart, the hardliner Gideon Saar, to try to persuade him that the conflict “cannot be resolved by military means”. He urged Israel and Hamas to extend the "phase one" of prisoner and hostage exchanges to the end of Ramadan, adding that he would also speak with the Palestinian Authority’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa.
He also added that humanitarian aid “should never be used as a political tool and Israel must restart the aid immediately”. At one point after Mr Lammy was asked to account for the 400 people killed, more than 170 of them children, in recent strikes, an MP repeatedly shouted “babies” during his response.
The attack came from Brendan O’Hara, of the Scottish National Party, who stated that Israel understood after 17 months of war it could “act with impunity”, killing civilians in tents who were “mostly babies and toddlers”, knowing that there would be “absolutely no consequence”.
“Can the Foreign Secretary think of any other conflict where the UK accepted one of its closest allies designating babies and toddlers as legitimate targets?” he asked. Mr Lammy replied that there were “atrocities on both sides” and what was now required was “more light and less heat”, as Mr O’Hara repeatedly heckled him with the words “children” and “babies”.
