A multi-partisan cohort of British members of parliament (MPs) is calling for sanctions to be placed on Israel for the Jewish state's actions in Gaza.
A total of 51 MPs so far from seven different political parties backed a motion calling for the Labour government in power to respect the United Nations (UN) General Assembly's 18 September resolution demanding that Israel end its occupation of all Palestinian territories as well as accept the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) advisory opinion that the Israeli occupation violates international law.
Concerning the UN resolution, the United Kingdom's Labour government abstained on the vote. And as of now, there is no official agreement in UK politics that the ICJ's determination concerning Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory is valid.
The new motion "welcomes that the UN resolution calls on states to comply with their obligations under international law and to take concrete steps to address Israel's lawful presence in the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territory]." It further states that the House of Commons "believes the adoption of this resolution places new obligations on the Government" and "calls on the Government to act in support of the UN resolution and ICJ opinion including by ending all military exports to Israel, banning the import of goods from illegal Israeli settlements and revoking the 2030 Roadmap which deepens UK economic, trade and security ties with Israel."
(Related: Did you hear that Israel's Minister for Social Equality and Women's Empowerment is "personally proud of the holocaust of Gaza?")
British MPs call for end to Israeli arms sales
Most of the British MPs who support the motion are Independents, though there are a few Labour members as well as members of nationalist parties like the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru in Wales who support it also. It was sponsored by a coalition of independent and Labour MPs including Zarah Sultana and Diane Abbott.
All five of the independent MPs who campaigned on a pro-Gaza platform – Jeremy Corbyn, Shockat Adam, Adnan Hussain, Ayoub Khan and Iqbal Mohamed – support the motion, as do Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George and two other Green Party MPs. Not a single conservative MP supports the motion.
The motion was tabled on October 8 and remains an "early day motion," meaning there is no fixed date for it to be debated. In most cases, early day motions do not end up getting signed by ministers.
Along with the motion, some MPs, including Labour MP Olivia Blake, want Foreign Secretary David Lammy to stop selling arms to Israel.
"It is not only a moral but also a legal necessity that the UK halt arms sales and licensing with Israel," Blake wrote in a letter to Lammy, adding that she wants the government review into the UK's arms sales and licensing agreements with Israel to be expanded. She also asked Lammy when such a review will actually take place.
The UK is seriously considering imposing sanctions on Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for callous comments these two made in reference to the Palestinian people.
Smotrich stated this week that starving the civilians in Gaza might be justified as part of Israel's ongoing military campaign while Ben-Gvir called the perpetrators of settler violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank "heroes."
"We are looking at that because they're obviously abhorrent comments," said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Even if sanctions are imposed on them, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have both said that they will not be changing their positions on Gaza.
"They don't scare me and I will continue to act only according to Israel's highest national interests," snarled Ben-Gvir in a statement.
"No threat will prevent me from doing the right and moral thing for the citizens of Israel," Smotrich also said.
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