Keir Starmer SUSPENDS trade talks & slaps Israel with sanctions over ‘escalation’ of war in Gaza
SIR Keir Starmer has suspended trade talks and imposed sanctions on Israel over its Gaza military expansion.
The PM also summoned the country’s ambassador.
It is the Government’s strongest condemnation since the war began after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel in October 2023.
In the Commons, Sir Keir insisted: “We’re horrified by the escalation from Israel.
“The level of suffering, with innocent children being bombed again, is utterly intolerable.”
And Foreign Secretary David Lammy slammed Israel for its “continued egregious actions and rhetoric”.
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Announcing sanctions on three individuals and four entities involved in West Bank settlements, he said: “I find this deeply painful as a lifelong friend of Israel and a believer in the values expressed in its declaration of independence.”
Mr Lammy hit out at plans by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to take over the Gaza Strip and only permit limited aid into the coastal enclave.
He told MPs: “We must call this what it is. It is extremism.
“It is monstrous. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
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Responding to sanctions, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Britain of an “anti-Israel obsession” fuelled “by domestic political considerations”.
A spokesman said: “External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence against enemies who seek its destruction.”
