Tory MP Edward Leigh has called on the government to condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday, the Gainsborough MP condemned Hamas as a “brutal terrorist organisation.”
But, in a question to foreign office minister Hamish Falconer, the Father of the House went on to label Israel’s actions in Gaza as “unacceptable.”
He said: “It’s frankly unacceptable to recklessly bomb a hospital. It’s unacceptable to starve a whole people.
“Is the minister aware that many friends of Israel worldwide, notwithstanding narrow legal definitions, are asking this moral question: when is genocide not genocide?”
In response, Falconer said the government “will not move towards making determinations from despatch boxes on questions of legal determination, but that does not mean we will wait.”
He added that the government would abide by the preliminary judgements and preliminary measures set out by the International Court of Justice when they are announced.
Leigh was one of more than a dozen Tories who wrote to Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier this month calling for the UK to immediately recognise Palestine as a state.
The group of MPs and House of Lords members write that “recognising Palestine would affirm our nation’s commitment to upholding the principles of justice, self-determination and equal rights.”
The letter, organised by Kit Malthouse MP, continues: “This would send a clear message that Britain stands against indefinite occupation and supports the Palestinian people’s legitimate aspirations.”
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