Wes Streeting defends stance on Israel and the Gaza war
Former Health Secretary rejects claims of one-sidedness on Israel-Palestine conflict
Wes Streeting has responded to the publication of private messages from Peter Mandelson in which he was said to be “hysterical” about the Gaza war by suggesting he was acting with the “moral urgency the conflict demands. “
The former health secretary issued a statement after it was revealed that Mandelson referred to receiving “a wild long hysterical message from Wes about Israel” in July last year, and added:”I pushed back. I can forward, but it reflects pretty badly on his maturity in my view.”
In a separate message to cabinet minister Pat McFadden, Mandelson described Streeting’s intervention as “pathetic” and remarked, “I think Wes is experiencing an early mid-life crisis.”
But Streeting now insists he was “horrified” by the war in Gaza, and confirmed that he also distributed a 22-page dossier to cabinet ministers containing testimony from three doctors who worked in Gaza under Israeli bombardment, describing what they had witnessed.
He also issued further criticism of Keir Starmer’s government, claiming his “motives and concerns” around Gaza were often “dismissed.”
But the Ilford North MP rejected claims that he was acting in a “one-sided” way over the conflict, and noted that he had met with survivors immediately after the October 7 Hamas attack, and had visited Israel as a shadow minister.
He said in a statement: “In government, I did everything I could behind the scenes to prompt action with the moral urgency the conflict demands. That included sharing eyewitness testimony from doctors in Gaza, whose accounts needed to be heard at the highest levels to ensure the war was not being waged without witnesses.”
“I was not the only cabinet minister pushing for action, but we often felt we were up against a brick wall. Our concerns and motives were dismissed.
“I have always supported Israel’s right to defend itself and Palestinians’ right to a state of their own.
“I met survivors of October 7th and was the first shadow cabinet minister to visit Israel. A decade ago, I visited the West Bank and, as a backbencher, called for sanctions on Israeli settlements. This was not an emotional or one-sided reaction—it is what other ministers and I genuinely believe.
“I am proud to have been part of the government that eventually recognised a Palestinian state, though I believe it took us far too long to get there.”
The Guardian reported that they had seen Streeting’s 22-page dossier shown to fellow ministers, which contained multiple graphic images of children including babies with acute malnutrition and amputated limbs.
In the report, one doctor described operating on up to a dozen children a day, with many screaming in pain because there were no available analgesics.
They said that half the casualties coming in were children, and all said they had never seen such extensive trauma on young children in their years of working in war zones.
Streeting had visited Israel with the Labour Friends of Israel group in May 2022, where he was accompanied by then parliamentary chair Steve McCabe, who is now a Labour peer.
The visit was Streeting’s first overseas trip since being appointed to the health portfolio by Starmer ahead of the last election.
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