The British government on Tuesday intensified its criticism of Israel\u2019s military campaign in Gaza by suspending free trade negotiations and imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decisive move comes as global criticism intensifies over Israel\u2019s nearly three-month blockade of humanitarian supplies into Gaza, which has prompted warnings of famine from aid organisations and concern even from staunch allies like the United States, according to AP.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UK\u2019s action followed a rare coordinated rebuke issued Monday by Britain, France, and Canada, condemning Israel\u2019s conduct in Gaza and its settlement expansion in the West Bank.
While the existing UK-Israel trade agreement remains in effect, the suspension of talks for a new deal marks one of the strongest diplomatic measures Britain has taken since the conflict began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sanctions announced on Tuesday target individuals and groups associated with violent settler activity in the West Bank, signalling a shift in the UK\u2019s stance as the humanitarian toll in the region deepens.
AP reports that Israel\u2019s ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, was summoned to the Foreign Office on Tuesday, where Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer condemned Israel\u2019s 11-week blockade of aid to Gaza as \u201ccruel and indefensible.\u201d
Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that the UK was expanding its sanctions, targeting three individuals, two illegal settler outposts, and two organisations accused of supporting violence against Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He accused the Israeli government of directly backing the expansion of illegal settlements across the West Bank.
Lammy\u2019s statement followed Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s forceful remarks on Monday, who described the suffering of children in Gaza as \u201cutterly intolerable\u201d and reiterated his demand for an immediate ceasefire.
\u201cWe\u2019re horrified by the escalation from Israel,\u201d Starmer declared. He joined French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in issuing one of the strongest rebukes of Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza and the West Bank by any of its close allies since the war began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three leaders warned that they would consider \u201cconcrete actions\u201d unless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu halted the renewed military offensive and eased restrictions on humanitarian aid. Netanyahu dismissed the joint statement as a \u201chuge prize for Hamas.\u201d
Starmer stressed that a ceasefire was the only viable path to securing the release of hostages still held by Hamas. He also criticised the limited volume of aid entering Gaza, calling it \u201cutterly inadequate.\u201d
\u201cThis war has gone on far too long,\u201d Starmer said. \u201cWe must act collectively. We cannot allow the people of Gaza to starve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Israel allowed limited truckloads of baby food and essential supplies into Gaza on Monday, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher described the aid as \u201ca drop in the ocean\u201d compared to what is urgently required.
Initially, Israel enjoyed broad international support following Hamas\u2019s surprise October 7, 2023 attack, which killed around 1,200 people\u2014mostly civilians\u2014and led to 251 hostages being taken. However, that support has eroded as Palestinian casualties mount.
According to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, over 53,000 Palestinians\u2014primarily women and children\u2014have been killed since the conflict began. More than 300 people have died in recent Israeli strikes, local health officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recent weeks, Macron has stepped up diplomatic pressure on Israel, calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the aid blockade.
He has also suggested that France could recognise a Palestinian state, possibly as early as June, when it co-hosts an international conference with Saudi Arabia focused on implementing a two-state solution.
During a visit to Egypt, Macron met with injured Palestinians at El Arish hospital and said recognition of Palestine is not a \u201ctaboo\u201d for France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He has also proposed reviewing the European Union\u2019s cooperation agreements with Israel.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The British government on Tuesday intensified its criticism of Israel\u2019s military campaign in Gaza by suspending free trade negotiations and imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. The decisive move comes as global criticism intensifies over Israel\u2019s nearly three-month blockade of humanitarian supplies into Gaza, which has prompted warnings of famine from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/afp_682b314dd78f-1747661133_9a5fe0-1747661508.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13774,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13773\/revisions\/13774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}