A Liberal Democrat MP has begun a Westminster debate on a petition to ban arms sales to Israel by suggesting “reputable” sources put the death toll in Gaza at “as many as 186,000.
Dr Roz Savage, a member of the Petitions Committee, had been asked by the Committee to open the debate on two petitions relating to Israel and Palestine.
Arguing in support of an arms embargo and immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, Savage appeared to suggest a figure used by The Lancet magazine early this year on deaths in Gaza was indeed well sourced.
But after the 180,000 death toll figure was published in a now deleted admission on X one of the authors of the report appeared to suggest the figure was “purely illustrative”.
Opening Monday’s debate Savage told MPs that the official figure for deaths in occupied Gaza stood at “over 42, 000 Palestinians, although estimates from reputable sources claim that maybe as many as 186,000 have been killed.”
The MP for South Cotswolds also went on to confirm that she supported stopping the sale of arms to Israel.
She claimed the Labour government is “on the wrong side of history” and must halt selling arms to Israel.
Savage then went on to quote the recently published report from Amnesty International accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza.
During the debate, took place in Westminster Hall and therefore does not conclude with a vote by MPs, anti-Israel parliamentarians including Kim Johnson MP lined up to call for an arms embargo and for immediate recognition of a Palestinian state.
In July the Lancet, a well-respected British medical journal, published a letter from three academics – Rasha Khatib, Martin McKee, and Salim Yusuf – discussing the death toll in Gaza.
The letter, which is not peer-reviewed, suggests that, if the death toll in Gaza was 37 396, then it is “not implausible” to estimate that up to 186 000 deaths could be attributed to the war at some point in the future.
This figure was decided by multiplying the current death toll, as reported by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, by five.
The forward-looking estimate does not suggest that 186,000 have been killed in the 9 months of war so far.
But the figure was immediately questioned with further correspondence in the Lancet stating: “In now-deleted posts on X, subsequent to publication of the Correspondence, one of its authors seemed to acknowledge that this number is “purely illustrative”.
“This ‘purely illustrative’ number, weaponised against Israel, serves as a dangerously irresponsible provocation, and is now nefariously held up as prima facie evidence of a deliberate massacre of an incomprehensible number of non-combatants by Israel.”
A petition calling for an arms embargo has attracted more than 107,000 signatures and states: “The UK is complicit in arming Israel, and many regard Israel to be committing war crimes.”
In response to the petition, provided on 5 March 2024, the Government said: “HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and rigorously assesses every application on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.”
Another petition on Palestinian state recognition which has more than 283,000 signatures, states: “We believe that the Government needs to recognise the state of Palestine immediately. Otherwise we don’t think they can legitimately say they back a two-state solution.”
In its response to the petition, provided on 27 February 2024, the Government said: “We must give Palestinians a credible political pathway and irreversible momentum towards the establishment of Palestine. We will recognise a Palestinian State when most conducive to the peace process.”
Jewish News has approached the Lib Dems for comment.
