UK: Corbyn and new independent MPs urge Labour to act on Gaza

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and four other independent MPs have warned Labour against maintaining the UK's objection to the International Criminal Court (ICC) application for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a letter issued on Monday to the foreign secretary, David Lammy, Corbyn emphasised the UK's obligations to Palestinians under international law.

These obligations, listed by the group of MPs, include ceasing arms sales to Israel, restoring funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees Unrwa, dropping any objection to the ICC's case against Netanyahu, recognising a Palestinian state and sanctioning Israelis involved in the war on Gaza, among other demands.

"Gaza's ministry of health holds the death toll since October at 38,000. However, a study published in the journal The Lancet estimates that even a conservative measure of the death toll in Gaza could exceed 186,000," the letter reads.

The signatories include Leicester South MP Shockat Adam, Blackburn MP Adnan Hussain, Dewsbury and Batley MP Iqbal Mohamed, and Birmingham Perry Barr MP, Ayoub Khan.

The move marks the first major political action by these MPs, who won seats in traditionally Labour constituencies by riding a wave of anger against the party over its response to the war in Gaza.

Corbyn has previously called for independents and leftists to work together to challenge the two-party dominance of the UK government and enact change.

I have joined other independent MPs in writing to the Foreign Secretary, reminding him of the government's obligations under international law.

That involves dropping any legal challenge over the ICC's application for an arrest warrant of Israeli's PM Benjamin Netanyahu. pic.twitter.com/Fz4WyIXQTe

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 15, 2024

In a column published in the Guardian on Friday, Corbyn announced he would begin a monthly “People’s Forum” in his constituency of Islington North.

He described the forum as a “shared, democratic space for local campaigns, trade unions, tenants’ unions, debtors’ unions and national movements to organise” for the future. 

Last week, the campaign group The Muslim Vote called for a political alliance between left-wing parties such as the Greens and independent groups to challenge the Labour government in future elections.