UK ends Israel trade talks after 'indefensible' new Gaza offensive
The British government has sanctioned illegal Israeli settlers, halted trade negotiations and summoned the ambassador using the strongest language yet to condemn the country's 'intolerable' and 'repellent' actions in Gaza. In impassioned scenes in the UK Parliament, Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned Israel's renewed offensive in Gaza as 'morally wrong'. The deaths of 53,573 Palestinians since the October 2023 attacks by Hamas on Israel and the current military campaign that has driven Gazans from their homes into a corner of the strip have pushed Westminster into taking its strongest action to date. 'We must call this what it is. It is extremism. It is dangerous, it is repellent,' Mr Lammy told Parliament. 'I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.' He announced sanctions against West Bank settlers on Tuesday as 'settler violence has soared'. The list of seven sanctioned entities included three people and four organisations. The activist Daniella Weiss – recently profiled by broadcaster Louis Theroux and who is regarded as one of the most extreme settlers – was on the list. Mr Lammy said the measures follow a dramatic surge in settler violence in the occupied West Bank, with the UN recording more than 1,800 attacks against Palestinian communities since January 1, 2024. 'We are demonstrating again that we will continue to act against those carrying out heinous abuses of human rights,' he said. The Foreign Secretary called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to 'end this blockade now' as only 10 aid lorries have entered Gaza since the weekend. Many humanitarian groups say 500 shipments are required each day to sustain Gaza's population. The 10 lorries were the first consignments into Gaza for nearly three months. Mr Lammy also condemned senior Israeli cabinet members who call for the 'cleansing' of Gaza of Palestinians. 'We are now entering a dark new phase in this conflict. The Netanyahu government is planning to drive Gazans from their homes into a corner of the strip to the south and permit a fraction of the aid that they need,' he said. At the weekend, the UK's Co-op supermarket chain announced at its annual meeting that members had voted to stop selling Israeli goods and cease all trade with the country and its suppliers. In his statement to Parliament, Mr Lammy also announced the formal pause of the extension to the Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Israel. 'While the UK government remains committed to the existing trade agreement in force, it is not possible to advance discussions on a new, upgraded FTA with a Netanyahu government that is pursuing egregious policies in the West Bank and Gaza,' he said. As he announced that Israeli ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely had been summoned to the Foreign Office, a Labour back bench MP shouted: 'Expel them!' Hamish Falconer, Parliamentary Under Secretary for the Middle East, said he would tell Ms Hotovely that 'the 11-week block on aid to Gaza has been cruel and indefensible'. Earlier, Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined the leaders of France and Canada to formally give voice to their horror at the military escalation in Gaza and repeat calls for an immediate ceasefire. 'I want to put on record today that we're horrified by the escalation from Israel,' Mr Starmer told Parliament, after releasing a joint statement with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. '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,' Mr Starmer said. 'We must co-ordinate our response, because this war has gone on for far too long.' French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told national radio on Tuesday that Mr Netanyahu's angry response to the three leaders' statement could not disguise the pressure Israel was feeling. Mr Barrot said the situation in Gaza was unsustainable as the strip had become a death trap for its people. Israel's announcements of new aid shipments for the first time in 11 weeks was insufficient for an international community which could not turn its eyes from the suffering in Gaza, he said. He also noted that in Mr Netanyahu's response the Israeli leader was forced to take into account the position of the international community and its denunciation of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
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