British charities call on new government to address Gaza war disaster

A group of British charities have called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s new government to take immediate action to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and reorient foreign policy towards Palestine.

Twenty NGOs and human rights groups on Monday outlined the first steps the government should take in Starmer’s first 100 days on the Gaza war and the occupied West Bank.

The organizations, which include organizations active in the Gaza Strip such as Action For Humanity and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), called on the government to uphold international law and use its diplomatic influence to prevent further atrocities and casualties in the nine-month war.

In an open letter, the organizations pointed to the humanitarian catastrophe facing the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip, the increase in violence in the occupied West Bank and possible war crimes.

“It is crucial that the new government takes all legal measures to ensure compliance with international law, fight the occupation, prevent atrocity crimes and prioritize the protection of civilians,” the letter said.

It set out five “immediate actions” that the government should take in its first 100 days in office – the typical timeframe for the first pledges of a new UK government.

These include using “diplomatic influence” to achieve an immediate and lasting ceasefire, halting arms sales to Israel and making a parliamentary statement signalling “a fundamental change of course” in Britain’s stance on international law.

It also sets out a series of short-term and long-term measures that the Starmer government should take to end Israel’s blockade of Gaza and increase humanitarian aid.

Prime Minister Starmer took office following a landslide victory for his centre-left Labour party in the July 4 general election.

He is expected to pursue a similar policy towards the Middle East as the previous Conservative government and he has already spoken by telephone to the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers.

The letter from the humanitarian organizations comes at a time when the Israeli military is ordering further forced evacuations of the population of the northern Gaza Strip in light of the increasing fighting in Gaza City.

Patients and staff at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital had to be evacuated on Sunday when attacks reached the area surrounding the hospital.

Human rights groups point out that Israel’s forced expulsion of around 90 percent of the population represents a possible violation of international laws of war.

The letter expresses concern about the “plausible risk of genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip” and refers to South Africa’s complaint before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide.

It states that the UK “has a moral and ethical responsibility to protect populations at risk of atrocity crimes. In addition, there is a well-established legal obligation to prevent the commission of atrocity crimes, including the crime of genocide.”

Nicola Banks, head of advocacy at Action for Humanity and one of the signatories of the letter, said the government must take the risk of genocide identified by the International Court of Justice “extremely seriously”.

“The appalling number of Palestinian civilians killed, the destruction of hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure, and the ongoing denial of life-saving assistance require urgent attention that we can no longer postpone,” Banks said.