Starmer urged to take action against Israel as expulsion plan takes shape in north Gaza

Several MPs have urged the UK government to take firm action against Israel after it launched a major military offensive in northern parts of Gaza and ordered the forced mass displacement of nearly 400,000 Palestinians living there.

For six consecutive days, Israeli forces have pummelled the Jabalia refugee camp with air strikes and artillery shelling, despite ordering residents to leave their homes and head south to the Mawasi "humanitarian zone".

At least 120 Palestinians are known to have been killed in the Jabalia camp, as well as the cities of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, but aid agencies have warned that the death toll is likely to be far higher after three hospitals were ordered to shut down their operations.

The latest offensive comes weeks after a controversial proposal named the "Generals' Plan" was presented to the Israeli government, which would see areas north of the Netzarim Corridor emptied of its residents so Israel could establish a "closed military zone". 

"Those who leave will receive food and water," Giora Eiland, a retired Israeli military general and former head of the National Security Council, who is spearheading the proposal, said in a video posted about the plan last month. 

Adnan Hussain, an independent MP for the UK city of Blackburn who won his seat in July's general election on a pro-Palestine ticket, called the latest offensive "an attempt to ethnically cleanse the north completely of its civilian population.

"What makes the horror even more glaring... is news of civilians being shot at by sniper drones should they attempt to leave, in effect turning the north of Gaza into a bigger death trap than the rest of Gaza," he told Middle East Eye.

According to residents and footage shared with CNN, several Palestinians attempting to flee the northern areas of Gaza have been shot at by small drones or quadcopters.

Meanwhile, tanks have been pushing deeper into the north, with fighter jets pounding the area from above.

Several other MPs who spoke with MEE said that it was crucial that the UK pressured Israel into accepting a ceasefire, adding that they fully supported a total arms ban on sales to Israel.

"I will be bringing this urgent issue to the attention of the foreign minister without delay," Ayoub Khan, an independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, told MEE.

He added that Israel’s latest actions in Gaza "seem to be carried out while diverting media attention to Lebanon and Syria through what appears to be unjustified aggression, all under the pretext of self-defence."

'The UK government cannot continue to stand on the sidelines and give free rein to Netanyahu’s killers' 

 - John McDonnell MP

Brendan O’Hara, a Scottish National Party MP and its spokesperson on the Middle East, said the party has repeatedly called for an "end to the UK licensing arms sales to Israel and an immediate ceasefire”. 

"On Monday I pointed out to the prime minister, the legal, political, and moral absurdity of his government’s position of demanding a ceasefire while it continues to licence arms sales to Israel, who then use those weapons, including F-35 fighters, to prolong the bombardment of Gaza and increase the numbers of civilians – mostly women and children – who are being killed."

Last month, the UK suspended 30 arms export licences to Israel following a review which found that British-made weapons may have been used in violation of international law.

Arms campaigners and rights advocates who have pressed for a full suspension of arms sales to Israel for months welcomed the decision, but criticised the continued export of F-35 fighter jet components.

'Appalled at the savagery'

John McDonnell, a former Labour shadow chancellor and now an independent MP for the London constituency of Hayes and Harlington, said he was "appalled at the savagery of the treatment of Palestinians by the IDF [Israeli army] in this way. The UK government cannot continue to stand on the sidelines and give free rein to Netanyahu’s killers. 

"We need the UK government to denounce the Israeli government in the strongest terms but to back up its words with action. That means the application of a full arms sale ban and the implementation of a programme of sanctions," he told MEE.

On Wednesday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited Bahrain and Jordan to “strengthen efforts to de-escalation in the Middle East”, according to the foreign office.

Lammy said: “I am pleased to be back in the region to meet with our key partners in Bahrain and Jordan and see first-hand our combined efforts towards building long-term security and stability in the Middle East.

"We must not waver at this critical period to achieve ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, to get more desperately needed aid into Gaza, and secure the release of all hostages."

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A foreign office spokesperson told MEE that "the death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable – the fighting must stop now.

"We want to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages still cruelly detained by Hamas, and much more aid entering Gaza."

But Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who was re-elected in July as an independent MP, told MEE that a total end to all arms sales to Israel is the "bare minimum" Britain should do.

This comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer ruled out a full arms ban on Monday.

"If the government respected international law," Corbyn said, "it would also be clear that it supports the ICJ’s landmark judgement, which ruled that the occupation of Palestine was illegal."

Shockat Adam, independent MP in Leicester South, told MEE: "With the world's attention diverted to the broader Middle Eastern region, Lebanon, and now Iran, we must not lose focus on the core of this tragedy, and that is Gaza and its people.

"We ask again for an immediate ceasefire, the cessation of all arms licences, the recognition of a Palestinian state, and immediate negotiation for a long-standing peace in the region."