Starmer faces calls for stronger line on Gaza
At prime minister's questions, Sir Keir described the situation in Gaza as "appalling and intolerable" and repeated calls for a ceasefire.
He added that further actions against Israel will be considered, including sanctions.
But his words were not enough to satisfy opposition critics and left-wing Labour MPs, who are calling on the government to take stronger action against Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers.
It comes after aid distribution centres in Gaza were closed for the day, with the Israeli military warning roads leading to the sites will be considered "combat zones".
At least 27 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire close to a distribution centre on Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defence Agency.
The Israel Defence Forces say its troops fired shots after identifying suspects who moved towards them "deviating from the designated access routes".
The UK's Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer faced the anger of backbench Labour MPs - many of whom were wearing red "stop arming Israel" badges - in the House of Commons.
Falconer said he was "appalled" by Palestinians being killed when trying to access aid sites, adding: "We call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events for the perpetrators to be held to account."
He added: "Israel's unjustified block on aid into Gaza needs to end - it is inhumane.
"Israel must immediately allow the United Nations and aid partners to safely deliver all types of aid at scale to save lives, reduce suffering and maintain dignity."
Killings near Gaza aid centre will deepen criticism of Israel's new distribution system
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Paul Adams: Starmer and Lammy sound genuinely angry at Israel
Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan called for Mr Netanyahu and "the other murderous figures who are responsible" to be sanctioned.
"Words are not enough," she said, as she called for a date for when the government would impose restrictions on them.
Labour MP Paula Barker said the history books "will not be kind" to the government unless action is taken.
"What more evidence do we need to call this exactly what it is? A deliberate policy of annexation and genocide," she added.
Her call for the government to acknowledge that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza was echoed by a number of MPs.
Falconer said that it was a matter for a "competent court to determine".
He added that he understood their frustrations, and promised further action if the UK could not persuade the Israeli government to "change course".
Israel says it is working to destroy the Palestinian armed group Hamas and get back hostages they have taken. It has strongly denied allegations of genocide, claims which are also being examined by the International Court of Justice.
The government is also facing calls to "urgently" recognise the state of Palestine - including from Conservative MP and former attorney general Sir Jeremy Wright.
Sir Jeremy told MPs he he had changed his mind the timeframe for such a move - traditionally seen as being part of a "two-state solution" - over the rhetoric coming from the Israeli government.
During the debate, protesters gathered outside Parliament to demand the end of arms sales to Israel, something that was repeatedly echoed by MPs, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The MP, who now sits as an independent, is calling for a public inquiry to uncover what he called the "murky history of what's gone on, the murky arms sales and the complicity in appalling acts of genocide".
He has tabled a draft bill to set up an inquiry to examine the "any UK military, economic or political cooperation" with Israel, with powers to question ministers and officials.
The bill is backed by prominent left-wing Labour MPs including Diane Abbott and Richard Burgon, four independent MPs, two Greens and members of Plaid Cymru and the SNP.
It has been scheduled for debate on 4 July, but is unlikely to become law without government backing.
Corbyn was among the MPs calling for a total embargo on the sale of arms to Israel - including parts for F-35 fighter jets.
Hamish Falconer said the UK had already taken steps to "ensure that weapons directly for use in Gaza have been suspended," and had stopped supplying F-35 parts "directly to Israel".
But he said the UK would continue to supply parts to the "global pool" of F-35 spares, as this was needed to help "the defence of Nato allies" and support the Ukraine war effort.
When it was put to him that Ukraine did not use F-35s, he said the planes were needed for the redeployment of F-15s, which were used in the fight against Russia.
But Corbyn and other critics insist the government's explanations lack credibility and they must know that the parts are being used to attack Palestinians in Gaza.
The Lib Dems are also urging a tougher stance from the government on Israel.
At prime minster's questions, Sir Ed Davey urged Keir Starmer to "push at the UN Security Council for humanitarian corridors to get the desperately needed aid urgently into Gaza".
Sir Keir said that the government is "working at pace with our allies on that very issue, to take whatever measures we can to get that humanitarian aid in".
Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas' cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 54,607 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 4,335 since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March, according to the territory's health ministry.
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US Criticizes Macron for Opting to Recognize Palestinian State
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Columbia genocide scholar may leave over university's new antisemitism definition
NEW YORK -- For years, Marianne Hirsch, a prominent genocide scholar at Columbia University, has used Hannah Arendt's book about the trial of a Nazi war criminal, 'Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil,' to spark discussion among her students about the Holocaust and its lingering traumas. But after Columbia's recent adoption of a new definition of antisemitism, which casts certain criticism of Israel as hate speech, Hirsch fears she may face official sanction for even mentioning the landmark text by Arendt, a philosopher who criticized Israel's founding. For the first time since she started teaching five decades ago, Hirsch, the daughter of two Holocaust survivors, is now thinking of leaving the classroom altogether. 'A university that treats criticism of Israel as antisemitic and threatens sanctions for those who disobey is no longer a place of open inquiry,' she told The Associated Press. 'I just don't see how I can teach about genocide in that environment.' Hirsch is not alone. At universities across the country, academics have raised alarm about growing efforts to define antisemitism on terms pushed by the Trump administration, often under the threat of federal funding cuts. Promoted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the definition lists 11 examples of antisemitic conduct, such as applying 'double standards' to Israel, comparing the country's policies to Nazism or describing its existence as 'a racist endeavor.' Ahead of a $220 million settlement with the Trump administration announced Wednesday, Columbia agreed to incorporate the IHRA definition and its examples into its disciplinary process. It has been endorsed in some form by Harvard, Yale and dozens of other universities. While supporters say the semantic shift is necessary to combat evolving forms of Jewish hate, civil liberties groups warn it will further suppress pro-Palestinian speech already under attack by President Donald Trump. For Hirsch, the restrictions on drawing comparisons to the Holocaust and questioning Israel's founding amount to 'clear censorship,' which she fears will chill discussions in the classroom and open her and other faculty up to spurious lawsuits. 'We learn by making analogies,' Hirsch said. 'Now the university is saying that's off-limits. How can you have a university course where ideas are not up for discussion or interpretation?' A spokesperson for Columbia didn't respond to an emailed request for comment. When he first drafted the IHRA definition of antisemitism two decades ago, Kenneth Stern said he 'never imagined it would one day serve as a hate speech code.' At the time, Stern was working as the lead antisemitism expert at the American Jewish Committee. The definition and its examples were meant to serve as a broad framework to help European countries track bias against Jews, he said. In recent years, Stern has spoken forcefully against what he sees as its 'weaponization' against pro-Palestinian activists, including anti-Zionist Jews. 'People who believe they're combating hate are seduced by simple solutions to complicated issues,' he said. 'But when used in this context, it's really actually harming our ability to think about antisemitism.' Stern said he delivered that warning to Columbia's leaders last fall after being invited to address them by Claire Shipman, then a co-chair of the board of trustees and the university's current interim president. The conversation seemed productive, Stern said. But in March, shortly after the Trump administration said it would withhold $400 million in federal funding to Columbia over concerns about antisemitism, the university announced it would adopt the IHRA definition for 'training and educational' purposes. Then last week, days before announcing a deal with the Trump administration to restore that funding, Shipman said the university would extend the IHRA definition for disciplinary purposes, deploying its examples when assessing 'discriminatory intent.' 'The formal incorporation of this definition will strengthen our response to and our community's understanding of modern antisemitism,' Shipman wrote. Stern, who now serves as director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, called the move 'appalling," predicting it would spur a new wave of litigation against the university while further curtailing pro-Palestinian speech. Already, the university's disciplinary body has faced backlash for investigating students who criticized Israel in op-eds and other venues, often at the behest of pro-Israel groups. 'With this new edict on IHRA, you're going to have more outside groups looking at what professors are teaching, what's in the syllabus, filing complaints and applying public pressure to get people fired,' he said. 'That will undoubtedly harm the university.' Beyond adopting the IHRA definition, Columbia has also agreed to place its Middle East studies department under new supervision, overhaul its rules for protests and coordinate antisemitism trainings with groups like the Anti-Defamation League. Earlier this week, the university suspended or expelled nearly 80 students who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Kenneth Marcus, chair of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, said Columbia's actions were an overdue step to protect Jewish students from harassment. He dismissed faculty concerns about the IHRA definition, which he said would 'provide clarity, transparency and standardization' to the university's effort to root out antisemitism. 'There are undoubtedly some Columbia professors who will feel they cannot continue teaching under the new regime,' Marcus said. 'To the extent that they self-terminate, it may be sad for them personally, but it may not be so bad for the students at Columbia University.' But Hirsch, the Columbia professor, said she was committed to continuing her long-standing study of genocides and their aftermath. Part of that work, she said, will involve talking to students about Israel's "ongoing ethnic cleansing and genocide' in Gaza, where more than 58,000 Palestinians have died, over half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. 'With this capitulation to Trump, it may now be impossible to do that inside Columbia,' Hirsch said. 'If that's the case, I'll continue my work outside the university's gates.'
