Israel-Gaza War Internal Pressure Mounts On Starmer To Shift UK Policy

The first internal pressure on the Labour government to shift Britain's policy on Israel came yesterday, when Labour Friends of Israel said that the UK should restore funding to the UN's Palestinian relief agency, Unrwa.

- Patrick Wintour

Separately, a group of Labour MPs announced they were tabling an amendment to the king's speech calling for funding to be restored.

In the amendment the MPs also call for an end to arms sales to Israel, and a commitment that Labour will drop the previous government's legal challenge to the right of the international criminal court (ICC) prosecutor, Karim Khan, to seek an arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

So far the foreign secretary, David Lammy, has held back from any big changes in policy to Israel and met Netanyahu in Jerusalem, where he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages.

Labour Friends of Israel, in a briefing to MPs, said: "In the short term, the humanitarian situation in Gaza means the UK government should restore funding to Unrwa." It said funding should be tied to more stringent vetting of staff, a transparent employee register and an overhaul of educational materials.