Keir Starmer has urged Benjamin Netanyahu to reconsider plans to take over Gaza City, arguing the move will only bring more bloodshed. The British prime minister said Israel’s decision to escalate a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians while pushing the territory into famine was wrong and would do nothing to secure the release of Israeli hostages.
Israel’s security cabinet approved the plan at a meeting that ran through Thursday night, although it falls short of taking over the whole of Gaza as Netanyahu had previously indicated. Starmer called on both Israel and Hamas to de-escalate and agree to a ceasefire, warning that a negotiated two-state solution was “vanishing before our eyes”.
“Every day the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens and hostages taken by Hamas are being held in appalling and inhuman conditions,” Starmer said. “What we need is a ceasefire, a surge in humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages by Hamas and a negotiated solution.” He added that a diplomatic solution is possible if both parties step away from destruction.
Several countries, including Finland and Turkey, have criticised Israel’s announcement. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey accused Netanyahu of pursuing “ethnic cleansing” and urged Starmer to halt arms exports to Israel and sanction the prime minister and his cabinet. Energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh echoed that the takeover plan would escalate an already intolerable situation.
Starmer has warned that the UK will recognise a Palestinian state before the UN general assembly in September if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire and a pathway to a two-state solution. The Israeli plan, which stopped short of full control after reservations from the country’s top general, has also drawn opposition from hostage families who fear further escalation.
