Britain has issued fresh sanctions against Israel over its “morally unjustifiable” escalation of violence in Gaza, and demanded an end to its “cruel and indefensible” 11-week block on humanitarian aid.
Foreign secretary David Lammy condemned the “monstrous” situation as the UN warned that 14,000 Palestinian babies could die by Thursday unless action is taken to ease the crisis, which has left civilians severely malnourished.
He announced the suspension of trade talks with Israel, imposed sanctions on three individuals and four entities involved in the settler movement, and said Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions were “wholly disproportionate” and “utterly counterproductive”.
But during a fractious 90 minutes in the Commons on Tuesday, MPs from five political parties – Labour, the Tories, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the SNP – said the government should go further and faster, including suspending all arms sales to Israel and sanctioning ministers in the Netanyahu government.
Labour MP Melanie Ward, a parliamentary private secretary, asked Mr Lammy: “What is the red line? Gaza is out of time.”
In Gaza on Tuesday, witnesses described apocalyptic scenes. Khaled al-Serr, the head of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis – which has been bombed twice in the past week alone, and is one of the last remaining hospitals in the south of the territory – told The Independent he had been forced to interrupt surgery after Israel issued a mandatory evacuation order for the neighbourhood in which his family was taking shelter.
“But we don’t know where to go, there is no safe place,” he said as an Israeli drone whined in the background. “Even the so-called humanitarian area in the western part of Khan Younis – in the past two months, we have continuously received cases from bombings in tents located there.”
Ahmad, a nurse at the hospital, said conditions are “beyond critical”, and that the facility – once a “major lifeline” in the south – is now barely functioning.
“Many patients die simply because we cannot treat them in time,” he said. “One of the most painful things to witness today is the suffering of children. We receive dozens of [injured children], often with devastating wounds – burns, amputations, and severe head trauma.”
He said medics themselves are displaced, hungry, exhausted, and mourning the loss of their own families.
“Most of the time, we have patients lying on the floor,” he said. “Wounds are taking a long time to heal due to severe malnutrition and the toxic effects of the explosives on the wounds.
“There are severe shortages of anaesthetic drugs, antibiotics, sterilised instruments, and even basic items. The healthcare system is collapsing under the weight of this crisis, and we urgently need support, supplies, and protection.”
Earlier, Sir Keir Starmer joined Emmanuel Macron and Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney in warning of substantive action if Israel did not urgently let aid into Gaza.
And in the Commons he hit out at the “utterly intolerable” situation, saying: “We’re horrified by the escalation from Israel. We repeat our demand for a ceasefire as the only way to free the hostages.”
“We cannot allow the people of Gaza to starve,” the prime minister said.
His intervention comes a week after The Independent called on him to “find his voice” and put pressure on Mr Netanyahu to end the aid blockade.
Mr Lammy said Israel’s renewed military offensive marked a “dark new phase in this conflict”.
He condemned Mr 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”.
His criticism came after Mr Netanyahu’s government said it would allow a “basic” amount of aid into Gaza to prevent a “hunger crisis” from developing, acknowledging that there is international pressure from Israel’s allies on the issue.
The foreign secretary added: “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 MPs from across the House shouted “genocide”.
His words echoed those of Yair Golan, a former IDF general and 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.”
As MPs from different parties demanded tougher measures, Labour MP Azfal Khan said: “Concrete steps are overdue. When will you impose a full arms embargo on Israel and also recognise Palestine?”
In a passionate appeal, former Tory minister Kit Malthouse warned: “Many of us in this House have been urging this government to take action. We have tried anger 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 arms the UK is selling to Israel.
Labour MPs Andy Slaughter and Alex Sobel demanded that sanctions be imposed on Israeli ministers. Similar demands came from the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, and Green Party 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.”
And Middle East minister Hamish Falconer called Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely into the Foreign Office to set out Britain’s opposition to the escalation of military activity.
Mr Falconer posted on X after speaking with her: “I made clear the UK's opposition to expanded military operations in Gaza and rising violence and intimidation by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
"The UK will not stand by as this happens.”
Britain’s new sanctions, which include financial restrictions and travel bans, target individuals including prominent settler leader Daniella Weiss, who appeared in a recent BBC documentary by Louis Theroux.
Israel’s foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said Britain was harming its own economy and had an “anti-Israel obsession”.
He called sanctions in relation to the West Bank “unjustified and regrettable”.
“The British Mandate ended exactly 77 years ago,” he said. “External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction.”
Mr Netanyahu said that changing course would represent a “huge prize” for Hamas.
Meanwhile, officials said desperately needed new supplies have not yet reached people in Gaza, despite a small number of trucks being allowed across the border.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said aid workers had not been able to bring the supplies to distribution points where it is most needed, because the Israeli military had forced them to reload the supplies onto separate trucks, and workers ran out of time.
Cogat, the Israeli defence body that oversees humanitarian aid, said five trucks entered on Monday and 93 trucks entered on Tuesday. But Mr Dujarric confirmed that only a few dozen trucks had entered Gaza on Tuesday. The aid included flour for bakeries, food for soup kitchens, baby food and medical supplies.
Children in the area recounted horrifying scenes. “My aunt’s house was bombed ... We couldn’t find her head for two days,” Sondos, 15, told the charity War Child, whose staff are on the ground. “Dogs got to it first. Protect us ... help us feel safe again.”
Malak, 13, described being pulled out from under the rubble. “I’ve been injured myself,” he said. “I now have a metal plate in my arm. No one sees us as we’re torn apart.”
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The real reason Labour has waited until now to take action on Israel
