DAVID Lammy has said that Israeli plans to build a concentration camp in Gaza would be a “sticking point” in ceasefire negotiations.
The Foreign Secretary was confronted with reports in the Israeli press that defence minister Israel Katz is planning to build a camp on the ruins of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli politician called the camp a “humanitarian city”, in comments reported by the Haaretz newspaper.
Lammy was asked about Katz’s comments at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday by chair Emily Thornberry.
The Foreign Secretary said: “The statements that you’ve just described from defence minister [Israel Katz] relate very much to where the IDF are located and you’ll understand that if they’re, if what you describe is true then I think that would be a big sticking point for getting that ceasefire.”
Describing the issue as one of Israel’s “location” in Gaza, he added: “I suspect the statement from defence minister Katz is in relation to that and I suspect if indeed he is insistent of that position then it would be very hard to see how we get that ceasefire because there is an acute discussion about the degree to which the IDF withdraws from Gaza.”
Plans briefed to the Israeli media say that some 600,000 Palestinians would be forced to undergo "security screening" before entering the camp. They would be banned from leaving.
Israeli soldiers would control the camp, which would eventually house the entire population of Gaza.
Katz was quoted as saying that the plan is part of an overarching scheme to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their land, which he referred to as "the emigration plan, which will happen".
Elsewhere, Labour MP Uma Kumaran told Lammy: “They’re calling it a so-called humanitarian transit area but there’s no schools there, there’s no medical provisions there, there are no other facilities, and there are plans for forced screening.
“Katz wants international partners to be involved in that. Will Britain oppose this and can you guarantee us in this committee that no British companies or NGOs will be involved in those plans?”
Lammy said: “We’ve been very clear that we don’t support the aid foundation that has been set up, it’s not doing a good job, too many people are close to starvation, too many people have lost their lives.”
He added that his understanding was that there had been better conversations between the UN agency system and Israel over the last few days, saying: “So I’m surprised at the statements that I’ve seen from Mr Katz over the last 24 hours.
“And as I’ve indicated, they run contra to the proximity to a ceasefire that I thought we were heading towards, so I wonder if there’s some politicking going on for those within the government that for some reason stand opposed to this.
“But what you’ve described, I don’t recognise as a serious context in which the people of Gaza can get the aid and support that they need at this time.”
Pressed on whether Britain would be opposing any such plans, he said: “Yes.”
The Foreign Secretary further said that the UK Government would take further measures against Israel if a ceasefire in Gaza is not achieved in the coming weeks.
Nick Dearden, the director of Global Justice Now, said of Katz's plans: "It’s a concentration camp. And it will be built in plain sight, with effective assistance from western governments.
"There is no red line. Only resistance will stop the genocide."
Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza, was asked about the plans during a visit to the White House this week.
"It’s called free choice," said the Israeli prime minister. "You know, if people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave."
Netanyahu revealed he would nominate US president Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, after brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Iran following a brief war between the two countries earlier this year.
The embattled Israeli prime minister is facing corruption charges at home but has been emboldened by American support for his plans to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip.
Trump sparked outrage when he suggested that Palestinians should be removed from the territory, which would be remade into the "Riviera of the Middle East".
It later emerged that Tony Blair's think tank worked with a project looking to give life to the suggestion, which also included a manufacturing zone named after Elon Musk.
Elsewhere in the committee session, Lammy refused to say when the UK Government would recognise a Palestinian state, saying: "I’m not going to set it to a set timeframe, because I’ve explained that this is a moving, live situation. There are delicate ceasefire negotiations under way."
He has faced calls to recognise Palestine in conjunction with France at an upcoming conference in a symbolic move as the two previous colonial powers in the Middle East.
