Israel will be judged at later date on compliance with global rules – minister

A Cabinet minister said it will be judged at a “later date” whether Israel has complied with international law in its fightback against Hamas.

Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said it was not for her to say whether global rules were being broken in Gaza, with 8,000 Palestinians reported to have died during Israeli strikes.

She said the UK continues to “call for a pause” in the violence to allow aid into the region and permit people to leave.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s administration has stopped short of demanding an outright ceasefire.

Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat MP who has family trapped in Gaza, accused the UK and its allies of “failing” in their diplomatic approach to the conflict.

Israeli ground forces, including tank columns, pushed into Gaza over the weekend as Tel Aviv’s military continued to pound the Hamas-ruled territory from air, land and sea.

Bombardments knocked out communications in the 25-mile strip late on Friday — a blackout that follows an Israeli blockade on water, food, fuel and other essentials reaching 2.3 million Palestinians who are effectively trapped.

Communications were restored to many people in Gaza early on Sunday, according to local reports.

Ms Donelan, asked on Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme whether the UK Government was confident Tel Aviv had obeyed international law, said: “I’m not an international lawyer and it is not in my jurisdiction to make that decision.

“Those judgments will be made in due course, based on all of the evidence.

“It is a fast-paced environment, things are happening that we aren’t even aware of on the ground.

“Those judgments and views will be made at a later date by the relevant and appropriate bodies.”

The senior Conservative said the UK has not set Israel any so-called “red lines” in the conflict as she argued that rules governing war situations were “well established”.

Hamas’s deadly raids on Israel on October 7 killed 1,400 people, mainly civilians, and Palestinian militants took more than 200 people hostage.

In retaliation over the past three weeks, Tel Aviv has besieged the Occupied Palestinian Territory and pummelled it with bombs as Israel’s leadership vowed to eradicate Hamas.

Around 8,000 Palestinians have died since the war began, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, with most said to be women and children.

Ms Donelan said the preservation of civilian life was a “priority” for the UK but said Hamas was using the Palestinian people as “human shields” and put them in harm’s way by building tunnels underneath houses.

“It is very difficult to get to Hamas without hurting innocent civilians,” she told Sky.