The United Kingdom has significantly increased its emergency response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It has suspended negotiations on a free trade agreement with Israel and frozen some arms exports. The UK government’s response should match the scale of its words to stop the blockade of Gaza. This status quo has led to incomprehensible pain and suffering among the Palestinian people. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has rightly condemned this too, adding that a ceasefire is essential if we are to put an end to this horrifying escalation of violence.
The UK has already sanctioned Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for their inflammatory actions. They are rightly being held accountable for calling for violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. These new sanctions are rightly putting the UK on a level with countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway. Collectively, they have each gone after Israeli leaders. And Lammy added, “We need to do something really quite soon about this because people continue to die.”
The toll on humanitarians in Gaza is acute, with 750+ Palestinians reportedly killed while trying to evacuate safely. According to the UN, over 700 people are on the brink of starvation as a result of the blockade, which has drawn international condemnation from leaders such as U.S. Lammy has called the continuing situation a humanitarian crisis, calling it “a flagrant violation of international law.”
Besides stopping arms exports and sanctioning complicit Israelis, the UK has acted to repress the Palestinian rights movement on their own home turf. In response, the government has banned radical advocacy group Palestine Action and arrested hundreds of its supporters. Critics say that this widening crackdown on activism stands in stark contrast to the UK’s professed commitment to human rights.
For Lammy, this would mean an eventual official recognition of the state of Palestine. He argues that this recognition would be more than symbolic and make a major contribution to guiding all parties toward a two-state solution. He boldly proclaimed, “I am very comfortable. Be hard to find another G7 partner or ally in Europe doing more on this file than this government has done.” The UK’s position as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council deserves attention. This position, combined with its status as Israel’s most important trade partner, marks the UK’s extraordinary potential for positive influence in the world.
The possibility of even more action against Israel awaits if a ceasefire agreement cannot be reached soon. Listening to that discussion, Lammy has demonstrated that the UK government is willing to go further and they will when and where the situation demands. He unequivocally condemned the violence of settlers and the illegal growth of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. In detail, he called for an immediate stop to all of these measures.
As international pressure mounts on Israel to cease hostilities and address humanitarian needs, the UK’s proactive measures underscore its commitment to addressing the crisis in Gaza. The political climate is still very much in flux, with consequences for the future of UK-Israel relations and Middle Eastern diplomacy in general.
