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Paul Adams: Starmer and Lammy sound genuinely angry at Israel

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent
PA Media Keir Starmer speaking at the despatch box the House of Commons, he has a folder with notes and a microphone in front of him PA Media
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the suffering in Gaza "intolerable" while addressing MPs on Tuesday

After more than a year and a half of the war in Gaza, Britain appears to have finally lost patience with Israel.

Speaking to MPs, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy sounded genuinely angry.

Sir Keir said the level of suffering in Gaza, especially among innocent children, was "intolerable".

Israel's decision to allow in a small amount of aid was, he said, "utterly inadequate".

The prime minister added he was "horrified" by Israel's decision to escalate its military campaign.

Lammy employed similar language, saying the situation in Gaza was "abominable".

He condemned as "monstrous" the suggestion by Israel's hardline finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, that Gaza should be cleansed of its civilian population.

Israel's actions, Lammy said, were isolating Israel from friends and partners around the world and "damaging the image of the State of Israel in the eyes of the world".

Nor is Britain alone in expressions of outrage or threats of concrete action.

The EU says it's reviewing its association agreement with Israel, which governs its political and economic relationship.

Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, said a "strong majority" of members favoured looking again at the 25-year-old agreement.

On Monday night, Britain joined France and Canada in signing a strongly worded joint statement, condemning Israel's military action and warning of "further concrete actions" if the humanitarian situation in Gaza did not approve.

Another statement followed, signed by 27 donor countries including the UK, condemning a new Gaza aid delivery model being promoted by Israel.

The model aims to replace existing humanitarian agencies, including the UN, with civilian contractors, backed by the Israeli military.

The UN and its donors say the new model is poorly conceived and politically motivated, incapable of replacing the decades-long tried and tested international humanitarian ecosystem in Gaza.

A representative of one of the aid agencies operating in Gaza told me the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation scheme was "totally premature," adding that Israel had never provided evidence to back up its assertion that Hamas was responsible for the widespread diversion of aid.

One western diplomat, quoted in Israel's liberal Haaretz newspaper, described the new model as a "crazy plan and absolute madness".

During a passionate debate in the House of Commons, Lammy clashed with his Conservative opposite number, Dame Priti Patel, who suggested Hamas was benefitting from international criticism of Israel.

Lammy accused her of refusing to confront the reality of what was happening in Gaza.

Other MPs said Britain wasn't going far enough, with several suggesting, once again, that the time has come for Britain to recognise a Palestinian state.

The government's view is that taking such a significant step for purely symbolic reasons wouldn't actually change anything.

But with France possibly poised to recognise Palestine at a conference it's co-hosting with Saudi Arabia next month, some are hoping Britain follows suit.

Even if it doesn't, it's clear that Israel's supporters are increasingly exasperated, and fearful that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's latest military operation, dubbed "Gideon's Chariots" is poised to heap misery on Gaza just as the area's two million civilians face the very real prospect of starvation.

Even US President Donald Trump has expressed impatience, warning that "a lot of people are starving" as he concluded his regional tour last week.

Netanyahu's government is losing support, even among some of Israel's staunchest allies.

At a World Jewish Congress conference in Jerusalem, the organisation's president Ronald Lauder challenged Israel's foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar.

"All the best things Israel does are being destroyed by Smotrich because his statement about starving the Gazans and causing destruction is broadcast all over the world," Lauder said, asking why Netanyahu does nothing to stop him.

According to veteran Israeli journalist Ben Caspit, Sa'ar's answer was brief.

"Duly noted."