“We must call this what it is. It is extremism. It is dangerous. It is repellent. It is monstrous. And I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced on Tuesday the suspension of negotiations on a new free trade deal with Israel as well as the summoning of the Israeli ambassador over Tel Aviv’s military escalation and blockade of aid to the Gaza Strip.
“Today, I am announcing that we have suspended negotiations with this Israeli government on a new free trade agreement,” Lammy said in a speech to the House of Commons on the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy announces that the Israeli ambassador has been summoned by the UK government, and negotiations over a free trade deal have been “suspended”.
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“The Netanyahu government’s actions have made this necessary,” he stated, adding “my Honourable Friend the Minister for the Middle East is summoning the Israeli Ambassador to the Foreign Office to convey this message.”
“As the Prime Minister and fellow leaders said yesterday, we cannot stand by in the face of this new deterioration. It is incompatible with the principles that underpin our bilateral relationship. Rejected by Members across this House and frankly it’s an affront to the values of the British people,” Lammy said.
UK, France, Canada Statement
In a joint statement on Monday, the UK, France and Canada condemned “the expansion” of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, saying the “level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable.”
The governments warned they would take concrete action against Israel if it does not immediately halt its ongoing military assault on the enclave and end its restrictions on humanitarian aid.
Western Nations Threaten ‘Concrete Action’ against Israel over Gaza Siege
Since March 2, Israel has shut Gaza’s border crossings, preventing all humanitarian aid, including water, food, and medical supplies, into the enclave, exacerbating an already severe humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
Under pressure from the US administration and European allies, the Israeli security cabinet decided late on Sunday to allow some aid into the enclave.
‘This is Abominable’
Lammy pointed out this past weekend, the Israeli army “started a new, extensive ground operation throughout Gaza, Operation Gideon’s Chariot.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he continued, “says that they are going to take control of the Strip letting only minimal amounts of food reach Gazans. Madam Deputy Speaker I quote Prime Minister Netanyahu – ‘just enough to prevent hunger’.”
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“Fewer than ten trucks entered Gaza yesterday. The UN and WHO have issued stark warnings of the threat of starvation hanging over hundreds of thousands of civilians. Madam Deputy Speaker, this is abominable,” Lammy stressed.
He emphasized that civilians in Gaza, “facing starvation, homelessness, trauma, desperate for this war to end, now confront renewed bombardment, new displacement and new suffering.”
Displacement ‘Morally Unjustifiable’
“Madam Deputy Speaker, we are now entering a dark new phase in this conflict,” Lammy said, adding “Netanyahu’s government is planning to drive Gazans from their homes into a corner of the Strip to the south and permit them a fraction of the aid that they need.”
He pointed out that on Monday Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich “even spoke of Israeli forces ‘cleansing’ Gaza, ‘destroying what’s left’, of resident Palestinians ‘being relocated to third countries’.”
Louise Wateridge, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, says the humanitarian situation in Gaza “is absurd, it’s appalling, and to be quite frank, it’s unforgivable.”
“All of the supplies around me are literally three hours from the Gaza Strip. They could be there this afternoon,” she added,… pic.twitter.com/11Ox6hlick
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 20, 2025
“We must call this what it is. It is extremism. It is dangerous. It is repellent. It is monstrous. And I condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” Lammy stated.
He called “the planned displacement” of Palestinians from Gaza “morally unjustifiable, wholly disproportionate and utterly counter-productive.”
Israel’s Actions ‘Intolerable’
The foreign secretary said that since Israel restarted strikes on Gaza, he has made it clear, “in my conversations with (Israeli) Foreign Minister (Gideon) Sa’ar and Strategic Affairs Minister (Ron) Dermer, and publicly, in repeated joint statements with my French and German counterparts,” that “Israel’s actions are intolerable.”
‘Killing Children as a Hobby’: Golan Says Israel Risks Apartheid-Era Isolation
The UK has also “raised concerns,” he said, in the UN Security Council and before the International Court of Justice.
“Our message is clear. There is a UN plan ready to deliver aid at scale, needed with mitigations against aid diversion,” Lammy stated.
“There are brave humanitarians ready to do their jobs. There are 9,000 trucks at the border. Prime Minister Netanyahu: end this blockade now and let the aid in,” he stressed.
Israel ‘Isolating’ Its Allies
Lammy pointed out that despite the UK’s efforts, the Israeli government’s “egregious actions and rhetoric have continued.”
He accused the Netanyahu government of “isolating Israel from its friends and partners around the world,” as well as “damaging the image of the state of Israel in the eyes of the world.”
The EU Foreign Affairs Council will discuss suspending the association agreement with Israel, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday.
“The Dutch foreign minister has put forward a proposal to do the review of Article 2 of our association agreement with… pic.twitter.com/mSG8zs9HQj
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 20, 2025
“As the Prime Minister and fellow leaders said yesterday, we cannot stand by in the face of this new deterioration. It is incompatible with the principles that underpin our bilateral relationship,” he continued.
Lammy noted that “as the Prime Minister has said, if Israel pursues this military offensive as it has threatened, failing to ensure the unhindered provision of aid, we will take further actions in response.”
West Bank Sanctions
Raising the “two-state solution” as “the ideal framework,” he said “its very viability is in peril.”
“Endangered not only by the war in Gaza, but by the spread of illegal Israeli settlements and outposts across the Occupied West Bank, with the explicit support of this Israeli government,” Lammy warned.
He pointed out that there were now “weekly meetings” to approve new settlement construction, and as settlement approval has escalated, “settler violence has soared.”
“Here too, we have acted, repeatedly pressing for a change in this course and direction, sanctioning seven entities last October, and signing a landmark agreement to bolster support for the Palestinian Authority, when Prime Minister Mustafa visited London just last month,” Lammy noted.
‘It Must Stop’
Lammy, however, added that more must be done.
The foreign secretary said January’s ceasefire in Gaza offered a “glimmer of hope” and urged the Netanyahu government “to choose this path.”
“The world is judging. History will judge them. Blocking aid, expanding the war, dismissing the concerns of your friends and partners. This is indefensible and it must stop,” Lammy said.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
Bullsh!t. The only reason these world leaders are saying this is because
” Israel ” doesn’t bother hiding their crimes: barbarism, savagery, infanticide…
and the public can see the complicity in their crimes. Where did they get the bombs they dropped onto little children sleeping in tents? Where did they get the wherewithal to continue the slaughter? All relevant countries could have spoken up at any time, but they waited until it got a bit hot around the collective collar. They’re all just as guilty.