Israel's Gaza takeover plan sparks international outrage
Keir Starmer urged the Israeli government to 'reconsider immediately' the war cabinet plan pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to send troops into Gaza city and other areas.
'This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages,' Mr Starmer said in a statement released by Downing Street. 'It will only bring more bloodshed.'
Mr Starmer added that he was working on a peace plan to 'achieve a brighter future for Palestinians and Israelis' but 'without both sides engaging in good faith in negotiations, that prospect is vanishing before our eyes'.
'Our message is clear: a diplomatic solution is possible, but both parties must step away from the path of destruction,' he said.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated significantly in recent weeks after the UK stated it would recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel met certain conditions, including ending the 'appalling situation' in Gaza.
Australia has also urged Israel to back down from a full military plan to occupy Gaza city.
'Australia calls on Israel to not go down this path, which will only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international law,' Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.
Australia and international partners are pressing for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and aid to flow unimpeded, said the minister.
'A two-state solution is the only pathway to secure an enduring peace, a Palestinian state and the state of Israel, living side-by-side in peace and security within internationally-recognised borders,' said the minister.
Turkey has described Israel's decision to expand its military operation in Gaza as a 'new phase of its expansionist and genocidal policy in the region'.
'Every step taken by the fundamentalist Netanyahu government to continue the genocide against Palestinians and expand the occupation deals a heavy blow to international peace and security, increases regional instability, and further deepens the humanitarian crisis,' said the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
It urged Israel to 'immediately halt its war plans, accept a ceasefire in Gaza, and begin negotiations toward a two-state solution'.
Mr Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza and will eventually hand it over to armed forces to govern the enclave.
Israel's security cabinet on Friday approved his plans to control Gaza 's capital city in the north and displace half the population by forcing them south.
Sources told The National that invading Gaza city would be the beginning of reoccupying the entire Gaza Strip, twenty years after Israel's 'disengagement' from the Palestinian territory.
The Israeli army already controls some 75 per cent of Gaza, displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians whose towns and homes have been reduced to ruins.
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