
Israel ‘tarnishing reputation', Lammy says as country rejects UK warnings
The Foreign Secretary said Palestinians have been subject to a 'grotesque spectacle' as he addressed MPs amid a ground operation targeting Deir al-Balah, the main hub for humanitarian efforts in the enclave.
Earlier on Monday, Mr Lammy and counterparts from 24 other nations including France, Canada and Australia urged Israel to lift restrictions on the flow of aid.
They condemned the government's 'dangerous' system for delivering humanitarian assistance, which they said 'deprives Gazans of human dignity.'
'We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food,' the statement, which was also signed by the EU commissioner for equality, said.
The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.
Alongside 25 other partners, the UK message is clear: the war in Gaza must end now.
We need an immediate ceasefire, release of all hostages and a full resumption of aid. https://t.co/drlpbidmWl
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) July 21, 2025
In response, Israel's foreign ministry claimed the statement was 'disconnected from reality' and 'sends the wrong message to Hamas.'
'The statement fails to focus the pressure on Hamas and fails to recognise Hamas's role and responsibility for the situation,' the ministry said.
'Hamas is the sole party responsible for the continuation of the war and the suffering on both sides.
'At these sensitive moments in the ongoing negotiations, it is better to avoid statements of this kind.'
Asked about the situation later on Monday, Mr Lammy told the Commons: 'That ignoring of the international community is tarnishing greatly the reputation of Israel.
'We continue, of course, to look at what further we may need to do as he would expect.'
Palestinians have been subjected to a 'grotesque spectacle' and a 'litany of horrors,' he said, adding: 'I utterly condemn the killing of civilians seeking to meet their basic needs.
'I firmly believe the Israeli government's actions are doing untold damage to Israel's standing in the world, and undermining Israel's long-term security.'
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller had earlier asked Mr Lammy: 'Can he explain why there have been so few consequences since he and the minister spoke so powerfully in the last two months?
'And can he dispel the widespread view that he is not setting the policy he would choose, but that he is instead being reined in by No 10's desire not to upset President Trump, by acting more boldly.'
Mr Lammy said 'it is a source of great regret' that the conflict has not been brought to an end.
Earlier this month Israeli defence minister Israel Katz laid out plans for the 'humanitarian city' in Rafah, Gaza's most southern city which has been heavily damaged through the war.
He reportedly said that the military would initially move 600,000 Palestinians there, with the aim of eventually transferring the whole population to Rafah.
'Proposals to remove the Palestinian population into a 'humanitarian city' are completely unacceptable,' the foreign ministers said on Monday.
'Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law.'
The signatories also pledged that they would be 'prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire'.
In his statement to Parliament, Mr Lammy also announced a new £60 million package to support food assistance programmes, water and sanitation services and maternal and children's healthcare in the enclave.
Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry have said dozens of people were killed trying to access food aid over the weekend.
At the Commons Liaison Committee, Sir Keir Starmer reiterated his commitment to recognising a Palestinian state and described the situation in Gaza as 'intolerable'.
'Whether that's the deaths of those that are queuing for aid, whether it's the plans to force Palestinians to live in certain areas or be excluded from certain areas, they are all intolerable and absolutely wrong in principle,' he said.
Sir Keir's Government also faced criticism from the Labour chairwoman of the Commons International Development Committee over the continued supply of parts for the F-35 fighter jet to Israel.
Sarah Champion said: 'Alongside 25 other countries, the UK has issued a statement condemning Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank but failed to provide concrete actions on how they will be held to account.
'The committee's recent report on upholding international law, and our challenge on F-35 components, both give the Government practical tools to compel Israel to meet its obligations as an occupying nation.'
Israeli ground troops pushed into areas of Deir al-Balah, where several aid groups are based, for the first time on Monday.
Tens of thousands of people have sought refuge in the city, which has avoided widespread devastation during the war, leading to speculation that Hamas holds large numbers of hostage there.
Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people in the October 7 attack in 2023 that triggered the war and killed around 1,200 people.
Fewer than half of the 50 hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Spectator
24 minutes ago
- Spectator
The BBC has finally done something right
This isn't a sentiment you'll have read much in recent weeks, given the BBC's series of appalling misjudgements and editorial disasters. But here goes: Three cheers for the BBC. Its critics are completely wrong and its decision making is spot on. To be clear, I'm not referring to its coverage of Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, the Gaza documentary narrated by the son of a Hamas minister or the BBC's sacking of the two Masterchef presenters. I'm talking about something it has actually got right – but for which it is nonetheless being lambasted: the decision not to decamp its entire political team, and all its political programmes, to this year's party conferences. Previously the lunchtime Politics Live programme has been broadcast from what we used to call the two main party conferences – Labour and the Conservatives – along with Newsnight and much of the news channel's output. To do that, the BBC has taken around 80 journalists and technicians. That compares with three for ITV and eight for Channel 4. Bloated, you say? In years gone by, it was possible to see the validity of such largesse in staffing and coverage. The party conferences used to matter. For hacks, they provided an invaluable opportunity to take 'the feel' of party members and to speak to politicians in a less guarded environment – especially in the bars late at night. For Labour, the proceedings in the hall also mattered, with its jargon of composites, motions and references back all feeding into an atmosphere where votes counted for something. I spent too many years having to attend them, first as a policy wonk and later as a hack. You really did have to be there. There was the Bennite wars of the 1980s, the Militant years and John Smith's 1993 OMOV (one member, one vote) fight. There was Tony Blair's first conference speech in 1994, when he argued for the abolition of Clause IV (Labour's constitutional commitment to 'the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange') and almost no one in the hall realised what he was saying. Labour conference was the arena in which the party's future was played out, with fringe meeting battles and – literally – smoke-filled rooms. Although the conferences mattered, I hated them. All the people I wanted to spend time with I could do so in London. I never got to grips with being forced to spend time with people I had no wish to spend time with, but in a secure area. Add to that the permanent stench of stale air and the annual conference cold, and I was thrilled when I no longer had to go. Party conferences now are just stage shows, like the US conventions, which exist solely to provide fodder for social media clips of Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch's speeches and to give the mainstream news broadcasters something to talk about. For the party faithful they're a fun – each to their own – few days of political self-indulgence and a chance to get drunk with people you've seen on telly. For everyone else, they are meaningless for anything other than the set piece speeches – which could equally be broadcast, like Keir Starmer's first as Labour leader during covid in 2020, online from an empty room. The BBC is quite right to call out the emperor's new clothes. The conferences don't need – and don't deserve – the broadcast army of hacks they've always had. Not least because now they're not even necessarily the most relevant gatherings, with Reform increasingly solid ahead in the polls. Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, told PoliticsHome, which broke the story: 'It's a surprising move by the BBC, who took over 500 of their staff to Glastonbury.' She has a point – but the point isn't that the BBC should take its usual army to the conferences, it's that it took an absurd number to Glastonbury. PoliticsHome also quotes a BBC source: 'We're really upset about it.' Chacun à son goût.


Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Albanese's TOUGHEST talk yet on Gaza - but he's slammed by some for not being tough enough on the REAL culprits
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has given his harshest assessment yet of Israel during the ongoing conflict in Gaza, but the Coalition has slammed him for not holding Hamas accountable. The comments, which were issued on Friday, followed increasing concerns about the blockade of aid to the region after the release of photos showing children starving. 'Israel's denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored,' Albanese said. 'Every innocent life matters. Every Israeli. Every Palestinian. 'We call on Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law. This includes allowing the United Nations and NGOs to carry out their lifesaving work safely and without hindrance.' His comments were echoed by Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who called the situation a 'humanitarian catastrophe' that has left Australians distressed. Albanese also said Israel should abandon any further plans that would lead to permanently displacing Palestinian people. But he stopped short of saying Australia would join France in recognising Palestinian statehood after the European nation became the largest Western power to signal it would make the announcement. The Prime Minister instead said recognising the 'legitimate aspirations of Palestinian people for a state of their own' was a bipartisan position. 'Australia is committed to a future where both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples can live in peace and safety, within internationally recognised borders,' he said. 'Until that day, every effort must be made here and now to safeguard innocent life and end the suffering and starvation of the people of Gaza.' But on Friday afternoon, the Coalition lashed Albanese, with shadow foreign affairs minister Michaelia Cash claiming he had missed an opportunity to name Hamas as the primary obstacle. 'The Coalition has strong concerns about the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza,' she said. 'It is disappointing that Prime Minister Albanese's statement about Gaza once again fails to place any blame on Hamas, a listed terrorist organisation, for the delays in aid reaching the people of Gaza.' She said outrage over the crisis should be directed squarely at Hamas: 'Hamas and its allies have tried to disrupt the flow of aid into Gaza and have stolen humanitarian aid for their own purposes.' 'This war began because of Hamas's abhorrent attack on Israeli civilians, where over 1,200 were murdered in cold blood, and they bear responsibility for the continuation of this conflict.' Cash also criticised Hamas for refusing to recognise Israel's right to exist. 'They could end the suffering of the people of Gaza by freeing the remaining Israeli hostages and laying down their weapons,' she said. Ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas have recently collapsed, with both Israel and the United States reportedly withdrawing from talks. With aid being throttled at the border and all entry points to Gaza controlled by Israel, former USAID official Jeremy Konyndyk said Australia and other nations must do more. 'Nothing about this is natural or organic - it's 100 per cent man-made,' the Refugees International president told ABC Radio. 'We are at - if not past - a tipping point.' The Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which began operations in May, has been accused of obstructing operations by the United Nations and other aid groups, and putting starving Palestinians in danger. According to Mr Konyndyk, its aid packages were small and insufficient and the foundation's facilities were located far from population centres. Israel, which began letting in only a trickle of supplies to Gaza in recent months, has previously blamed Hamas for disrupting food distribution and accused it of using stolen aid to fund its war effort. Israel has enforced a complete embargo on humanitarian aid and medical supplies for almost three months after a ceasefire deal collapsed earlier in 2025. In recent months, more than 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid, many of them shot by the Israeli military, UN sources have found. Israel's military campaign was launched after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages. Albanese also condemned the 'terror and brutality' of Hamas and repeated calls for the release of the remaining hostages.


Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
Meta to halt political advertising in EU from October, blames EU rules
BRUSSELS, July 25 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab will end political, electoral, social issue advertising on its platform in the European Union in early October because of the legal uncertainties due to EU rules targeting political advertising, the U.S. social media company said on Friday. Meta's announcement echoed Alphabet unit Google's decision announced last November, underscoring Big Tech's pushback against EU rules aimed at reining in their power and making sure that they are more accountable and transparent. The European Union legislation, called the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation and which will apply from Oct. 10, was triggered by concerns about disinformation and foreign interference in elections across the 27-country bloc. The EU law requires Big Tech companies to clearly label political advertising on their platforms, who paid for it and how much as well as which elections are being targeted or risk fines up to 6% of their annual turnover. "From early October 2025, we will no longer allow political, electoral and social issue ads on our platforms in the EU," Meta said in a blog post. "This is a difficult decision - one we've taken in response to the EU's incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation, which introduces significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties," it said. Meta said TTPA obligations create what it said is an untenable level of complexity and legal uncertainty for advertisers and platforms operating in the EU. It said the EU rules will ultimately hurt Europeans. "We believe that personalised ads are critical to a wide range of advertisers, including those engaged on campaigns to inform voters about important social issues that shape public discourse," Meta said. "Regulations, like the TTPA, significantly undermine our ability to offer these services, not only impacting effectiveness of advertisers' outreach but also the ability of voters to access comprehensive information," the company added.