Britain, France and Germany are currently pressing on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and put an immediate end to a “humanitarian catastrophe,” according to The Associated Press.
Urgent Call
This move came after French President Emmanuel Macron announced his plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.
On Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that he would hold an “emergency call” with France and Germany to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“I will hold an emergency call with E3 partners tomorrow, where we will discuss what we can do urgently to stop the killing and get people the food they desperately need while pulling together all the steps necessary to build a lasting peace,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
The joint statement, issued after a call between Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, urged for an immediate ceasefire and said that “withholding essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable.”
The three leaders also stressed their readiness to take more steps to support an immediate ceasefire and a political process that ensures lasting security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region.
Macron’s Surprise Announcement
Crucially, Macron’s unexpected announcement revealed some differences among the European allies concerning how to end the Israel-Hamas war that has started in October 2023.
The E3 supports the establishment of a Palestinian state in principle. However, Germany is not planning to recognize the Palestinian state in the short term, according to Reuters.
A German government spokesperson said on Friday that his country’s top priority now is to make “long-overdue progress” towards a two-state solution.
Germany’s position on Israel in the context of the Gaza war is deeply shaped by its sense of special responsibility to atone for the Holocaust, during which six million European Jews were killed under Hitler’s regime between 1933 and 1945.
Mounting Pressure in UK
As for the UK, the British PM has been facing mounting pressure to officially recognize Palestinian statehood, both from opposition lawmakers and from members of his own Labour Party government.
British MP Jeremy Corbyn has recently unveiled an independent “Gaza tribunal” to investigate the UK’s involvement in Israeli genocide in Gaza, according to Arab News.
The Independent MP, who was the former Labour Party leader, has been criticizing Israeli military operation in Gaza since October 2023.
On June 4, Corbyn introduced a bill into the UK House of Commons urging the government to establish an independent inquiry into UK’s complicity in Israeli war in Gaza, including the supply of weapons, surveillance aircraft and use of Royal Air Force bases.
However, the bill was rejected at its second reading earlier this month.
As a result, Corbyn announced that he would hold a Gaza tribunal in September as “the public deserves to know the full scale of their government’s complicity in genocide.”
The British government has been facing increasing pressure from MPs, including many from its own Labour Party, to take a decisive step against Israel.
Call for Palestinian State Recognition
Approximately 60 British Labour MPs have recently urged the UK government to immediately recognize the Palestinian state and halt what they labeled as “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza, according to The Guardian.
A group of centrist and left-wing MPs write a letter this week to the Foreign Secretary David Lammy asking him to act immediately to stop Israel’s reported plan to establish a so-called “humanitarian city” of tents in the ruins of Rafah, in southern Gaza.
“By not recognizing [Palestine] as a state, we undermine our own policy of a two-state solution and set an expectation that the status quo can continue and see the effective erasure and annexation of Palestinian territory,” the letter said.
The MPs also described the plan as “ethnic cleansing” warning that such a move means the forcible transfer of civilians and the erasure of Palestinian presence as well.
It is with great urgency and concern that we are writing to you regarding the Israeli Defense Minister’s announcement on Monday of his plans to forcibly transfer all Palestinian civilians in Gaza to a camp in the ruined city of Rafah without allowing them to leave,” the letter added.
Since the beginning of Hamas-Israel War in Gaza in 2023, the Israeli strikes have killed more than 57,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 137,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Related Topics:
Gaza Talks at Crossroads: US Pulls Negotiators as Mediators Report Progress
Canada Condemns Israel over Gaza’s ‘Humanitarian Disaster’
UK to Hold Urgent Talks with France, Germany over Gaza War
