UK government ‘united’ over position on Gaza conflict, insists Downing Street
The PM's official spokesman rejects claims of Cabinet split on Gaza, with foreign secretary David Cameron expected to fly to Washington this week for talks with Antony Blinken
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Rishi Sunak’s government is is “completely united” on its position on the Israel-Hamas conflict, Downing Street has insisted.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman rejected suggestions that the Cabinet was split on how to respond to the ongoing conflict following comments from the Foreign Secretary David Cameron and the Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden over the weekend.
He said: “The Government is completely united on this matter. The Prime Minister set out his position clearly in the statement that he put out on Sunday.
He added: “We continue to support Israel’s right to self-defence and the UK was obviously shocked by the attacks made by Hamas. As a result we completely stand by Israel’s right to their security.”
On Sunday, Dowden said Israel is conducting a legitimate campaign, in a “very, very difficult environment”.
Downing Street’s rejection of any rift between those taking a tougher stance on Israel actions in Gaza, and those remaining supportive, came ahead of an expected visit to Washington this week by Cameron, who will meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and senior officials to discuss the on-going crisis in Gaza along with the continued conflict in Ukraine.
Government sources suggest Cameron will use the American visit to issue another strong statement on Israel and Hamas, calling for the release of the hostages, and for a further increase of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
It is understood that Cameron could also use the statement to again rule out the possibility of the government revealing the legal advice given to them on whether Israel’s actions in Gaza have violated international law.
But the foreign secretary is expected to give further guidance on the general thrust of the advice in order to be “transparent” with those calling for it to be disclosed.
Cameron is also expected to once again stress the right of Israel to defend itself following the October 7th Hamas terror attack.
He will also stress how Israel continues to remain a critical ally of the UK and the US, government sources claim.
But in tougher words, Cameron will once again state how Israel’s subsequent response to Hamas has raised serious questions, especially around the continued loss of innocent lives and the failure to allow adequate aid to reach the people of Gaza.
He will echo the words of Sunak last week, who called for the war in Gaza to “end” with a humanitarian pause leading to a full ceasefire.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has once again called on the government to publish legal advice it has had on whether Israel’s actions in Gaza have violated international law.
The Labour leader said: “Yesterday was the six-month anniversary of this awful conflict, and we’ve seen the continual withholding of hostages, we’ve seen 33,000 people killed in this conflict, many of them women and children, so we need the conflict to end. We need that ceasefire.
“On the question of arms sales, there’s a legal test for when sales should be suspended.
“The government’s got advice on that and so what the government should do is to publish that legal advice, or at least a summary of it
“They’ve published summaries before in response to the Houthi attacks, to publish that so we can all see it and that appropriate action can then be taken in relation to the sale of arms.”
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