Israel is breaking international law by stopping aid into Gaza, the UK government has said for the first time.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said that while Israel “quite rightly must defend its own security”, the ongoing blockade of goods and supplies to the strip was a “breach of international law”.
Appearing in the Commons, Mr Lammy was repeatedly asked about Israel’s decision at the beginning of the month, which came about following disagreements with Hamas over ceasefire terms set out in January following 15 months of war sparked by the 7 October attack against Israel.
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Asked by Labour MP Rupa Huq what the “consequences” would be for Israel’s “provocative action” during the holy month of Ramadan, the foreign secretary said for the first time that Israel was in breach of international law.
“Well, my honourable friend is right,” he said. “This is a breach of international law.
“Israel quite rightly must defend its own security but we find the lack of aid – it’s now been 15 days since aid got into Gaza – unacceptable, hugely alarming and very worrying.
“We would urge Israel to get back to the amount of trucks that we were seeing going in, way beyond 600, so that Palestinians can get the necessary humanitarian support they need at this time.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the decision to stop aid going into Gaza after Hamas rejected an Israeli request to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire.
The militant group said it would only release the remaining Israeli hostages under the terms of the already agreed-upon phased deal, and not as per the plan put forward by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which would see the first phase of the ceasefire deal continue through Ramadan and Passover, or until 20 April.
The war between Israel and Hamas has…
