Sadiq Khan mentioned the over 50,000 people killed by Israel in Gaza in his Eid address [Getty]
The Israeli embassy in the UK has released a statement attacking London Mayor Sadiq Khan after he mentioned the number of people killed by Israel’s war on Gaza in an address for Eid al-Fitr.
Khan, who became London’s first Muslim mayor in 2016, said that Muslims were marking a sombre Eid in his speech.
“This year, for many, the usual happiness we feel during Eid will be tempered by the appalling suffering and killing that continues in Sudan and Palestine.”
“More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israel’s ongoing military campaign, including more than 15,000 children,” he added.
“These betrayals of humanity should weigh heavily on our collective conscience. But I’m proud that while the international community has chosen to avert its gaze, Londoners have not,” Khan continued.
However, the Israeli embassy accused Khan on Thursday of spreading “Hamas propaganda” simply because he cited the casualty figures released by the Gaza health ministry in his speech.
The United Nations, the World Health Organisation, and NGOs such as Human Rights Watch have consistently found data released by the health ministry to be reliable.
In its statement, the embassy however claimed that the numbers were “not based on facts” and castigated Khan for not mentioning Israeli victims of Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel.
Khan also found himself attacked for spreading “antisemitism” by the Israeli embassy and the pro-Israel group Labour Against Antisemitism.
“Amid the alarming increase in antisemitic incidents in London and across the UK over the past 18 months, alongside the intimidating protests taking place outside places of worship, it is crucial that we all act with the utmost responsibility,” the Israeli embassy claimed.
“Sadiq Khan’s divisive dog-whistle message risks inflaming community tensions at a time of soaring antisemitism on London’s streets,” Fiona Sharpe, a spokesperson for Labour Against Antisemitism, said, accusing the mayor of engaging in “political commentary” on Eid.
Khan’s comments came as Israel pressed on with a brutal ground and air offensive which has killed hundreds of people over the past week, with people massacred as they sheltered in bombed out schools.
The Gaza Health Ministry said on Thursday that 50,523 Palestinians had been killed ever since Israel began its war on the territory in October 2023. 1,163 have been killed since Israel broke the ceasefire last month.
Thousands of uncounted victims are believed to still be under rubble. A Lancet study last June estimated a higher death toll of 64,260.
In response to the criticism, Khan said that he had “repeatedly conveyed his outrage at attacks by Hamas on Israel and has strongly condemned these acts of terrorism.”
