UK suspends trade talks with Israel over Gaza offensive

Britain today paused free trade talks with Israel, summoned its ambassador, and announced further sanctions against illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was horrified by the military escalation in Gaza, Reuters reports.

The Israeli occupation army announced the start of a new operation last week and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel would take control of the whole of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March and international experts have warned of looming famine.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the offensive was not the way to bring remaining captives home, called for Israel to end the blockade of aid and condemned what he called “extremism” in some sections of Israel’s government.

“We cannot stand by in the face of this new deterioration. It is incompatible with the principles that underpin our bilateral relationship,” Lammy told lawmakers.

“Frankly, it’s an affront to the values of the British people. Therefore, today, I’m announcing that we have suspended negotiations with this Israeli government on a new free trade agreement.”

READ: Half a Million Join “Nakba 77” National Demonstration in London to Demand an End to the Genocide in Gaza

Britain, in a joint statement with France and Canada yesterday condemned the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza and called for restrictions on aid to be lifted.

The trio said they would take “further concrete actions” should Israel’s fresh offensive not cease.

“I want to put on record today that we’re horrified by the escalation from Israel,” Starmer told parliament earlier today.

“We repeat our demand for a ceasefire as the only way to free the hostages, we repeat our opposition to settlements in the West Bank, and we repeat our demand to massively scale up humanitarian assistance into Gaza.”

Britain also sanctioned a number of individuals and groups in the occupied West Bank who it said had been linked with acts of violence against Palestinians.

The move comes after Britain imposed sanctions on a number of settlers and settler organisations in 2024, targeting individuals and groups which it said had sponsored violence against Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank.

All settlement activity in the occupied West Bank is illegal under international law.

“We are demonstrating again that we will continue to act against those who are carrying out heinous abuses of human rights,” Lammy said.

Israel’s ground and air war has devastated Gaza, displacing nearly all its 2.3 million residents and killing more than 53,300 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

It was revealed in March that the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) had conducted at least 518 surveillance flights around Gaza since December 2023. The investigation by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) for Declassified UK raised concerns about whether British intelligence has played a role in Israeli military operations that have resulted in mass civilian casualties in Gaza.

READ: Netanyahu slams UK, Canada, France for calling to halt Israel’s attack on Gaza