The UK’s support for Israel is not unconditional, Lord David Cameron has suggested.
The Foreign Secretary placed further pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the killings of three British aid workers in an air strike by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
Writing in the Sunday Times six months on from the October 7 Hamas attack which sparked the conflict in Gaza, Lord Cameron issued a warning over Israel’s compliance with international law.
It follows Rishi Sunak’s own message to Israel, in which he said Britain continues to stand by the Middle Eastern nation’s right to defend its security, while adding the UK remains “appalled” by the aid workers’ deaths.
John Chapman, 57, James “Jim” Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, were the three Britons who died in air strikes carried out by the IDF on an aid convoy on April 1.
The IDF described the incident as a “grave mistake stemming from a serious failure”, and dismissed two officers as a result.
But Lord Cameron said there is “no doubt where the blame lies”, adding: “This must never happen again.”
Sunday marks six months since the October 7 attack in which Hamas militants breached the barrier between Gaza and Israel and attacked military bases and civilian communities.
More than 1,100 people were killed in the attack, with 250 more captured as hostages by Hamas, approximately 130 of whom remain in captivity.
It was the trigger for Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health authority, as well as mass displacement of the population and a humanitarian crisis.
The Prime Minister said “Israeli wounds are still unhealed” and insisted Hamas must return its hostages.
Mr Sunak added: “We continue to stand by Israel’s right to defeat the threat from Hamas terrorists and defend their security.
“But the whole of the UK is shocked by the bloodshed, and appalled by the killing of brave British heroes who were bringing food to those in need.”
The UK had been “straining every sinew” to get aid into Gaza, he added, while calling for an immediate humanitarian pause in the fighting, “leading to a long-term sustainable ceasefire”.
A Royal Navy ship is to be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to help launch a new sea corridor for supplies, alongside £9.7 million in UK funding, the Government has announced.
David Lammy, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, called for Israeli hostages to be returned home and condemned the “intolerable death and destruction” of the IDF’s military campaign.
But in contrast to the Prime Minister, he called for “an immediate ceasefire”.
In recent weeks, the Government has come under pressure to reveal whether it has received legal advice about continuing arms sales to Israel.
Mr Lammy insisted the Government must “unequivocally commit to complying with international law in this conflict, including following the licensing criteria governing arms sales”.