Keir Starmer has told a parliamentary committee there has “got to be an investigation” into last month’s killing of 15 medics in Gaza by Israeli forces.
Appearing before the Commons Liaison Committee, the Prime Minister was asked if the UK would be pushing for the probe into the incident, which took place on March 23rd after Israel renewed its war against Hamas.
He said:”There’s got to be an investigation into that, and we have to be absolutely clear that we’re not just talking about that isolated incident.”
Starmer added:”There hasn’t been enough aid getting into Gaza at speed, at pace, for a very long time.
“The resumption of hostilities is the wrong move in my view. We need to get back to a ceasefire. We need to get aid in. We need to get the hostages out …..”
The PM also said that while moves towards a two-state solution for Israel and for Palestinians seemed “remote today” the UK “needs to put our foot in the door for a process.”
The two state solution remains the only guarantee to peace in the long-term, added Starmer, who accepted:”I do appreciate that may seem a long way off.”
Labour MP Sarah Champion attempted to press the PM to explain how the UK would comply with the International Court of Justice’s legal opinion “on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine” asking him to “outline how the UK will implement our legal obligations under the UN resolution?”
Noting his background as an international lawyer, Starmer said the UK held countries to account a a member of courts and institutions, as well as bilaterally.
“We are critical of Russia as the aggressor in Ukraine because it’s in breach of the UN charter that is a rules based system,” said the PM.
Asked again by Champion about Israeli occupation, Starmer said he believed “the occupation is unlawful.” He stressed this has been long standing UK government policy.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has called for an independent international inquiry into Israel’s killing of 15 emergency workers in southern Gaza.
The organisation released the full video found on the phone of one of its eight paramedics who died when troops fired at a convoy of ambulances on 23 March, which it said constituted a “fully fledged war crime”.
Israel’s military said on Monday that a preliminary inquiry indicated troops “opened fire due to a perceived threat following a previous encounter in the area, and that six of the individuals killed in the incident were identified as Hamas terrorists”, without giving evidence.
