The British government has suspended new free trade negotiations with Israel due to its military conduct in the war on Gaza. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed horror at the military escalation in Gaza, stating that the level of suffering by children in Gaza was “utterly intolerable”.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced additional sanctions on illegal Israeli settler outposts in the occupied West Bank, emphasizing that “the Israeli government has a responsibility to intervene and halt these aggressive actions”. Lammy also summoned Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely to the Foreign Office, criticizing the 11-week block on aid to Gaza as “cruel and indefensible”.
“Their consistent failure to act is putting Palestinian communities and the two-state solution in peril,” Lammy said, highlighting the need for immediate action. The UK’s existing trade agreement with Israel remains in effect, but new discussions are on hold due to Israel’s “egregious policies” in Gaza and the West Bank.
Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn urged the government to end military cooperation with Israel and impose sanctions, stating, “It’s quite simple: you cannot say you oppose Israel’s renewed military operation if you keep providing them with the weapons they need to carry it out.” Gearoid O Cuinn, founding director of the Global Legal Action Network, criticized the government’s decision, saying, “It’s not a future trade deal that is facilitating the killing and starving kids… It’s the ongoing supply of British weaponry and military support.”
Israel has denounced the UK’s decision, calling the sanctions “unjustified and regrettable”. The Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed that the free trade agreement negotiations were not being advanced by the current UK government anyway.
It remains to be seen whether Israel would bow to pressure now that the UK is suspending further economic cooperation between the two states until it achieves its requests from the Israeli government.