The UK has slapped Israel with further sanctions and suspended trade talks with the country as it dramatically stepped up its response to violence against Palestinians in Gaza.
Foreign secretary David Lammy condemned Israel for a “morally unjustifiable” escalation in violence as he announced fresh measures to pile pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu — just hours after the UK, Canada and France warned they would take “concrete actions” against the Middle Eastern nation.
Mr Lammy also said Israeli ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely would be summoned to the Foreign Office, where she would be told the 11-week block on aid to Gaza had been “cruel and indefensible”.
The move came amid growing alarm over warnings that 14,000 Palestinian babies could die in the next 48 hours if action is not taken to put an end the humanitarian crisis.
Sir Keir Starmer had already joined French president Emmanuel Macron and Canadian PM Mark Carney in issuing a statement warning of substantive action if the Israeli government let aid into Gaza.
But over a fractious 90 minutes in the Commons, MPs from five political parties — Labour, the Tories, Lib Dems, Greens and SNP — told Mr Lammy that the government needs to go further and faster including suspending arms sales to Israel and sanctioning ministers in the Netanyahu government.
Labour MP Melanie Ward, a parliamentary private secretary, asked the foreign secretary: “What is the red line? Gaza is out of time.”
The fresh sanctions were issued as violence escalated in Gaza following a renewed military offensive and continued restrictions on aid, which Mr Lammy said marked a “dark new phase in this conflict”.
His words echoed Yair Golan, a former IDF general and leader now leader of the opposition Democrats in Israel, who warned: “Israel is on the way to becoming a pariah state, like South Africa was, if we don’t return to acting like a sane country.”
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Lammy condemned Netanyahu’s government for “planning to drive Gazans from their homes into a corner of the strip to the south and permit them a fraction of the aid that they need”.
On Monday, Mr Netanyahu’s government said it would allow a “basic” amount of aid into Gaza to prevent a “hunger crisis” from developing, acknowledging there is international pressure from Israel’s allies on the issue.
But, speaking in the Commons ahead of Mr Lammy, Sir Keir Starmer said it was “totally and utterly inadequate”, adding: “We cannot allow the people of Gaza to starve”.
Hitting out at the “utterly intolerable” situation, he said: “We’re horrified by the escalation from Israel. We repeat our demand for a ceasefire as the only way to free the hostages.
“We repeat our opposition to settlements in the West Bank, and we repeat our demand to massively scale-up humanitarian assistance into Gaza.”
It comes after The Independent called on Sir Keir to “find his voice” and urge Donald Trump and all world leaders to call on Mr Netanyahu to end the aid blockade.
MPs from across the House shouted “genocide” as the foreign secretary said: “We must call this what it is. It is extremism. It is dangerous. It is repellent. It is monstrous and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
As from different parties MPs demanded tougher measures, Labour MP Azfal Khan said: “Suspending trade negotiations and other measures you have announced today will not stop the killing innocent Palestinians. Concrete steps are over due. When will you impose a full arms embargo on Israel and also recognise Palestine?”
Labour MP Naz Shah urged the foreign secretary to go further saying he should “act to actually stop what is happening.”
In a passionate appeal, former Tory minister Kit Malthouse warned: “He knows as well as I do the Israelis could not give a damn what is said in this chamber. Many of this in this House have been urging this government to take action. We have tried angered and outrage and got nowhere. We have tried shaming ministers into action.
“Maybe we need to beg for the lives of those Palestinian children before they will trigger this action whatever it might be.”
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, now an independent MP, demanded to know what sales the UK is selling to Israel.
Labour MPs Andy Slaughter and Alex Sobel demanded sanctions on Israeli ministers. Similar demands came from SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn and Green co-leader Carla Denyer.
Lib Dem MP Vikki Slade said: “I would like to join colleagues in begging you, on my knees if we need to, please take more action.”
Independent MP Zara Sultana pointed out that since the limited arms exports suspension last year more weapons including parts for F35 bombers had been sold to Israel.
The measures announced on Tuesday, including financial restrictions and travel bans, cover prominent settler leader Daniella Weiss and two other individuals, as well as two illegal outposts and two organisations that the Foreign Office said supported, incited and promoted violence against Palestinian communities.
Responding to the suspension of trade talks, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said Britain was harming its own economy due to Labour’s fear of alienating pro-Gaza voters and an “anti-Israel obsession”.
He said: “If, due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British government is willing to harm the British economy — that is its own prerogative.”
He said the sanctions in relation to the West Bank were “unjustified and regrettable”.
And he added: “The British Mandate ended exactly 77 years ago.
“External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction.”
Daniella Weiss, a target of the sanctions who the government described as a “high-profile extremist settler leader”, was a key focus of the recent Louis Theroux BBC documentary Settlers, which shone a light on the tactics of Israeli settlers in the Palestinian West Bank.
“I have seen for myself the consequences of settler violence. The fear of its victims. The impunity of its perpetrators”, Mr Lammy told the Commons.
“The sanctioning of Daniella Weiss and others today demonstrates our determination to hold extremist settlers to account as Palestinian communities suffer violence and intimidation at the hands of extremist settlers.”
He also said the UK has suspended negotiations with the Israeli government on a new free trade agreement, condemning the Israeli’s government’s “egregious actions and rhetoric”.
“They are isolating Israel from its friends and partners around the world, undermining the interests of the Israeli people and damaging the image of the State of Israel in the eyes of the world”, he said.
“I find this deeply painful as a lifelong friend of Israel and a believer in the values that were expressed in its declaration of independence.”
The foreign secretary warned the UK “cannot stand by in the face of this new deterioration”, adding: “It is incompatible with the principles that underpin our bilateral relationship, rejected by members across this House and, frankly, it’s an affront to the values of the British people.”
After he announced the suspension of trade talks with Israel, Mr Lammy said he wants “strong friendship” based on “shared values” with the Israeli people.
On Monday, the prime minister, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney called for an immediate end to Israel’s military offensive and restrictions on humanitarian aid.
In a joint statement, they said the Israeli government’s denial of aid “is unacceptable and risks breaching international humanitarian law”.
“We condemn the abhorrent language used recently by members of the Israeli government, threatening that, in their despair at the destruction of Gaza, civilians will start to relocate.
“Permanent forced displacement is a breach of international humanitarian law.”
