UK govt ‘looking at’ sanctioning Israeli ministers: Starmer

AFP | London, United Kingdom                                                   

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday the government was weighing up sanctions against far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Asked in parliament if the government would sanction the pair, Starmer said: “We are looking at that because there are obviously abhorrent comments along with other really concerning activity in the West Bank.”

National Security Minister Smotrich and Ben Gvir, who is Finance Minister, are vocal supporters of settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.

Smotrich has also triggered international uproar by suggesting it would be justified to starve two million Gazans to free Israeli hostages in the Palestinian territory.

Earlier this week, former foreign secretary David Cameron revealed that the previous Conservative government had been “working on” sanctions against the “extreme” politicians.

Starmer’s Labour government announced separate sanctions against seven Israeli settler outposts and organisations on Tuesday. Israeli settler violence and military raids have intensified in the occupied territory following Hamas’s October 7 attack last year.

Pointing to the “dire” humanitarian situation in Gaza, Starmer also called for Israel to “take all possible steps to avoid civilian casualties, to allow aid into Gaza in much greater volume”.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy meanwhile announced that the UK, France and Algeria had called an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council following UN reports that “barely any food has entered” North Gaza in the last two weeks.