UK Suspends Trade Negotiations With Israel Over 'Indefensible' Actions In Gaza

David Lammy has increased pressure on Israel over its war in Gaza by suspending further trade negotiations with the country.

The UK, France and Canada issued a joint statement on Monday urging Israel to halt its military offensive in Gaza and let aid into the Palestinian territory, although the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu rapidly rejected his allies’ plea.

The foreign secretary then issued a statement in the Commons on Tuesday announcing the formal pause of Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Israel, effective immediately.

The UK’s current trade deal with Israel will remain in place but it will not be possible to upgrade it while the Netanyahu is “pursuing egregious policies in the West Bank and Gaza,” according to a Foreign Office’s statement.

The government has also called for the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas to be released.

Speaking this afternoon, Lammy announced we were entering a “dark new phase” of the conflict.

He said Israel is now allowing just a fraction of the required aid through to Gaza while pushing Palestinians into a small corner of the territory in its fight against Hamas.

“It is extremism, it is dangerous, it is repellant, it is monstrous, and I compel it in the strongest terms,” Lammy said, while calling out Israeli ministers’ suggestion to completely remove Palestinians from the area.

He said the “threat of starvation is hanging over hundreds of thousands of civilians” in Gaza, while the 11-week blockade of humanitarian aid is “indefensible and cruel”.

“They are isolating Israel from its friends and partners around the world, undermining the interests of the Israeli people and damaging the image of the state of Israel in the eyes of the world,” the foreign sectary added, urging Netanyahu to “end this now”.

“The world is judging. History will judge them. Blocking aid, expanding the world, dismissing the concerns of your friends and partners. This is indefensible and it must stop,” Lammy added, noting: “The Netanyahu government’s actions have made this necessary.”

Three individuals will be sanctioned too, as well as two illegal settler outposts and two organisations supporting violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

In a written statement, the foreign secretary explained: “The sanctioning of Daniella Weiss and others today demonstrates our determination to hold extremist settlers to account as Palestinian communities suffer violence and intimidation at the hands of extremist settlers.

“The Israeli government has a responsibility to intervene and halt these aggressive actions. Their consistent failure to act is putting Palestinian communities and the two-state solution in peril.”

The minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, has summoned Israel’s ambassador Tzipi Hotovely to the Foreign Office over the expansion of military operations in Gaza.

The government has made it clear further action will be taken if Israel does not cease its action.

Israel launched a full-scale offensive into Gaza in October 2023 in response to the Hamas attack on Israeli soil where they took 1,200 people killed and 250 others hostage.

After 19 months of war in the region, more than 50,000 Palestinians are estimated to have been killed and Gaza is in a humanitarian crisis.

The Israeli foreign ministry quickly issued a response, saying the actions from the UK “will not divert” Israel from defending itself.

It said: “The British Mandate ended exactly 77 years ago. External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in the struggle for its existence and security against enemies seeking its destruction.”

“Even before today’s announcement, the matter had not been advanced at all by the current British government,” the statement noted.

It added: ”[If] due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British government is willing to harm the British economy — that is its decision.”