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Labour demands travel bans for perpetrators of settler violence in West Bank

The shadow foreign secretary was writing after visiting a Bedouin community in the West Bank.

Sam Blewett
Saturday 09 December 2023 16:07 EST
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Wire)

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Labour has demanded that ministers impose travel bans on Israelis responsible for settler violence in the West Bank while criticising the ā€œintolerableā€ death toll in Gaza.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy urged the Government to provide greater assistance to humanitarian organisations supporting Palestinians.

In a hardening of Labourā€™s tone, he argued in an article for the Observer that ā€œtoo often, Israeli authorities have turned a blind eye to settler violenceā€.

He also criticised two hardline Israeli ministers for their ā€œtotally unacceptableā€ support for settlers while promoting ā€œdangerous and extreme rhetoric about Palestiniansā€.

ā€œBritain should join with key partners like the US in pressuring Israel to act on settler violence,ā€ he wrote.

ā€œThe UK Government must impose these travel bans now, and provide greater assistance to humanitarian organisations that support Palestinians at risk of forcible transfer.

ā€œIt is imperative that these forcibly displaced Palestinians be supported in returning safely and freely to their homes.ā€

Repeating criticism from leader Sir Keir Starmer, Mr Lammy said that the ā€œdeath and destructionā€ in Gaza over the last two months since the Hamas attack has been ā€œintolerableā€.

The shadow foreign secretary was writing after visiting a Bedouin community in the West Bank, arguing that since the October 7 attack 1,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the region.

ā€œIllegal settlers do not just steal land and possessions. They snatch the hope of a two-state solution, the only prospect for a lasting peace across Israel and Palestine,ā€ he said.

Mr Lammy singled out national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich for criticism.

He said they have secured millions in funding for settlers ā€œwhile defunding the Palestinian Authority and promoting dangerous and extreme rhetoric about Palestiniansā€.

Labour has been deeply divided over the response to Israelā€™s war in the Gaza Strip, with some seeing the leadership as being too uncritical of the government in Tel Aviv.

Mr Lammyā€™s comments came after Britain chose to abstain on a United Nations resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

Thirteen of the 15-member security council voted in favour, but the action was blocked because of Washingtonā€™s veto on Friday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had warned of a ā€œhumanitarian catastropheā€ in Gaza as he urged the nations to demand Israel stops the war.

He argued that Gaza is at ā€œa breaking pointā€, that there is a serious threat of starvation and that there is a risk of ā€œmass displacement into Egyptā€.

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