LONDON

The British prime minister on Tuesday said that the resumption of Israeli attacks in Gaza is “wrong,” and called Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land “unlawful.”

"I think the occupation is unlawful, we've said that, that's been longstanding government policy," Keir Starmer told the Parliamentary Liaison Committee while responding to questions by 13 Select Committee Chairs.

He noted that there has not been enough aid getting into Gaza for a very long time, adding: "Resumption of hostilities is the wrong thing, 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 prime minister added.

He went on to say that there is a need to "put our foot in the door" for a process toward a two-state solution, which he called "the only way of guaranteeing peace in the long term."

Over 50,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

'The world is changing before us'

On US tariffs, Starmer said that US President Donald Trump's announcement to impose tariffs on many countries is "very challenging."

"Very challenging for us, and very challenging around the world," he said.

The prime minister said that he was "disappointed" to see tariffs in place, adding that he does not think that they are good for the country's economy or for economies around the world.

But he added, they need to "keep our options on the table and do the preparatory work for retaliation if necessary."

Turning to the steel industry, he said that the “last thing we want to do is to lose our capacity on steel.”

Starmer stressed he is "absolutely committed" to steel production.

"The world is changing before us," he said, adding that this is a "temporary passing phase."

Starmer said that there are two things that are need to be done. “The first is we have to do much more, further and faster in making sure our economy is resilient and thriving.”

"Secondly, we have to talk to other like-minded countries about lowering the barriers to trade between us," he said.