AROUND 50 Members of Parliament from seven political parties backed a motion calling for sanctions against the Israeli regime for committing ‘crimes against humanity’, on Tuesday.
The Early Day Motion (EDM), tabled by Leeds East MP Richard Burgon, called on the government to impose sanctions on Israel for its repeated violations of international law in Palestine.
‘For over a year now, Israel has carried out war crimes and flagrant violations of international law in Gaza,’ Burgon said.
‘To get Israel to stop committing these crimes, we need real action from political leaders – not just words.
‘That means imposing sanctions on Israel, as the UN General Assembly recently called for.’
During an impassioned debate in the House of Commons, in which all major parties condemned Israel’s actions in Lebanon and Gaza, the government was also told to ‘stop wringing its hands’ and work on a ceasefire.
MPs identified far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich as figures whose ‘inflammatory’ language was contributing to violence in the region.
The call for sanctions against Ben-Gvir and Smotrich was put forward by Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller, a former civil servant at the Foreign Office and currently his party’s foreign affairs spokesman.
Addressing Development Minister Anneliese Dodds, Miller asked: ‘Does the minister agree that now is the time to use our sanctions regime against the extremist ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich?’
Dodds agreed that the Israeli ministers had made ‘inflammatory’ comments and ‘remarks which are appallingly discriminatory’.
‘The British government “wholeheartedly” condemns the language both politicians have used,’ she added.
‘The UK will always keep our sanctions regime closely under review, as he would expect, and we will announce any changes to the House.’
Former Tory education secretary Kit Malthouse called on the government to ‘stop wringing its hands’ and take ‘positive, active steps’ to enforce international law in relation to Israel.
‘Even if you care little for the tens of thousands of dead Arabs, and the millions displaced, even if you couldn’t give a damn for the children shot in the head, or the burning hospital inmates in northern Gaza, if your only concern is the security of Israel, can the minister see any argument to say that yet another massacre of Gazans will enhance that security in the future?’ Malthouse asked, also addressing Dodds.
Another MP said images of a recent Israeli air strike on Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al Balah, which caused a fire to tear through tents where displaced Palestinians had taken refuge, would be ‘the abiding image’ of the war.
The government, Dodds said, has always supported international humanitarian law, and is ‘gravely concerned’ by the situation in Gaza, as well as that in Lebanon, which is ‘worsening by the day’.
She warned that, with winter approaching, Gazans – who are already living under ‘intolerable’ conditions – will become ‘increasingly vulnerable’ as temperatures drop.
‘All of Gaza’s population now faces the risk of famine,’ she added.
Also on Tuesday, the Independent Alliance of MPs, comprising Jeremy Corbyn, Shockat Adam, Adnan Hussain, Ayoub Khan and Iqbal Mohamed, censured the UK government for its complicity in the crimes of Israel.
In an urgent letter addressed to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the Independent Alliance of MPs rhetorically asked whether the government opposed genocide or not.
The letter censored the new Labour leadership for ‘100 days of complicity in crimes against humanity’.
The Independent Alliance of MPs expressed ‘disgust over the government’s complicity in one of the greatest crimes in our lifetime’.
The open letter came after learning that Palestinian refugees sheltering in their tents had been burned alive following an Israeli airstrike on a hospital courtyard in Gaza.
‘Their last moments on this earth were that of unimaginable pain and suffering,’ the letter said.
‘Moments earlier, Israeli air strikes hit a school, killing 22 people who were awaiting polio vaccinations.
‘The horror in Gaza is often described as a humanitarian crisis … this is not a humanitarian crisis.
‘It is a genocide, aided and abetted by governments including our own.
‘The destruction over the weekend coincided with the 100-day anniversary of the new Labour government.’
The Independent Alliance of MPs asked the government when it would end all arms sales to Israel and join France, Italy, Spain and Jordan in calling for a worldwide ban.
It also asked whether No. 10 Downing Street accepted the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling finding the Israelis guilty of illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.
On Tuesday morning, former Tory prime minister David Cameron told the BBC that he had considered introducing sanctions against Smotrich and Ben-Gvir earlier this year, when he was foreign secretary, to put ‘pressure on Netanyahu’ to act within international law.
‘When you look at what they say, like encouraging people to stop aid convoys going into Gaza, they have encouraged extreme settlers in the West Bank with the appalling things they have been carrying out.’
He urged the government to ‘look again at this sanctions issue’, and said the reason why he had not introduced measures himself was because it would have appeared ‘too much of a political act’ during the July general election.
Hours later, the Foreign Office announced sanctions against three illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, along with four organisations found to have ‘supported, incited and promoted violence against Palestinian communities’ in the territory.
The settlements in question were identified as Tirzah Valley Farm, Meitarim and Shuvi Eretz, and the organisations are Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva, Hashomer Yosh, Torat Lechima and Amana.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: ‘The Israeli government must crack down on settler violence and stop settler expansion on Palestinian land.’
The Foreign Office said: ‘Today’s measures target 3 settler outposts and 4 organisations that have supported, incited and promoted violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Settler violence often seeks to force Palestinians to leave their homes, and seize their land for the construction of outposts, which are illegal under both international and Israeli law.
‘The measures follow an unprecedented rise in settler violence in the West Bank over the last year, with the UN recording over 1,400 attacks by settlers against Palestinian communities since October 2023.
‘The month of October sees the beginning of the olive harvest in the West Bank, an important time both culturally and economically for Palestinians. It has traditionally suffered spikes in violence as organised settler groups disrupt and attack Palestinians.
‘The measures taken today are part of wider UK efforts to support a more stable West Bank, which is vital for the peace and security of both Palestinians and Israelis.’
Foreign Secretary David Lammy added: ‘When I went to the West Bank earlier this year, on one of my first trips as Foreign Secretary, I met with Palestinians whose communities have suffered horrific violence at the hands of Israeli settlers.
‘The inaction of the Israeli government has allowed an environment of impunity to flourish where settler violence has been allowed to increase unchecked. Settlers have shockingly even targeted schools and families with young children.
‘Today’s measures will help bring accountability to those who have supported and perpetrated such heinous abuses of human rights. The Israeli government must crack down on settler violence and stop settler expansion on Palestinian land. As long as violent extremists remain unaccountable, the UK and the international community will continue to act.’
The illegal settler outposts sanctioned on Tuesday – Tirzah Valley Farm Outpost, Meitarim Outpost, and Shuvi Eretz Outpost – have been involved in facilitating, inciting, promoting or providing support for activity that amounts to a serious abuse of the right of Palestinians not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
‘The 4 organisations sanctioned are:
- Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva
- Hashomer Yosh
- Torat Lechima
- Amana
‘Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva is a religious school embedded in the Yitzhar settlement known to promote violence against non-Jewish people.
‘Hashomer Yosh is a non-governmental organisation that provides volunteers for illegal outposts, including Meitarim Outpost (also sanctioned today). Meitarim was founded by the extremist settler Yinon Levy, who the UK sanctioned in February.
‘Torat Lechima is a registered Israeli charity that has been documented as providing financial support to illegal settler outposts linked with acts of violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
‘Amana operates in practice as a commercial construction company. Amana has overseen the establishment of illegal outposts and provides funding and other economic resources for Israeli settlers involved in threatening and perpetrating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.’
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reviewing a plan to seal off humanitarian aid to northern Gaza in a vicious attempt to starve out the Palestinians.
The plan proposed to Netanyahu by a group of retired generals would give Palestinians a week to leave the northern third of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, before declaring it a closed military zone.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has warned that more than 400,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza are at risk of starving to death due to Israel’s complete siege and ban on the entry of food and water.
