UK 'looking closely' at disturbing reports from Gaza, minister says

LONDON

The British government said it is “looking very closely” at reports that Palestinian civilians were burnt to death when Israeli forces bombed tents sheltering displaced civilians in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, Central Gaza.

Pressed on by various MPs during an urgent question session at the House of Commons, Minister for Development Anneliese Dodds failed to announce that the UK government will go ahead with sanctions against Israel.

Independent MP for Leeds, Richard Burgon, asked Dodds if the government would announce sanctions as it did against Russia when this country attacked Ukraine.

“In the last few days alone, Israel has burned people alive by bombing a tent camp hospital, killed children after bombing a school and fired on UN peacekeepers,” Burgon said.

He said: “We've had a year of this. As a Palestinian lawyer told me, Britain knows exactly what to do, because it rightly did it against Russia after its illegal invasion of Ukraine, imposed sanctions, sanctions on arms, sanctions on trade, sanctions on officials. That's how to get Israel to stop doing what it's doing.”

“So when will Israel be held to the same standards for its war crimes and violations of international law?” Burgon asked.

Dodds said in response: “It is indeed very important that the UK takes its responsibilities seriously.”

She said: “He (Burgon) talked about some of the reports that we have seen. Of course, the UK government is looking very closely at those reports and really determined to ensure that we play our part in ensuring that international law is upheld.

“He talked about sanctions policy, as I mentioned before, we will always keep that under review. But he should be aware that the UK has, for example, already sanctioned eight people responsible for perpetrating and inciting human rights abuses that was against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. We will continue to keep these issues under review.”

Also referring to an horrific footage widely shared on social media platforms, which is showing people burnt to death alive in Gaza, Brendan O’Hara, Scottish National Party MP asked: “Does bombing a hospital and having patients on IV drips burned to death in their beds constitute a war crime?”

State Minister Dodds said: “The UK government is looking very carefully at all reports.”

“There has, of course, been considerable footage that is extremely disturbing, not just the footage that many of us have seen to which he refers, but of other types as well. Of course, it's very important that the UK government looks at this carefully, makes proper assessments. There is a legal regime for doing this, and this UK government takes those legal responsibilities seriously, because we know the impact that they can have,” she added.

Israeli attacks killed at least 55 more Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, bringing the overall death toll since last year to 42,344, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Tuesday.

A ministry statement added that some 99,013 others were injured in the ongoing assault.