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LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Britain on Tuesday paused free trade talks with Israel, summoned its ambassador, and announced further sanctions against West Bank settlers as its foreign minister condemned a "monstrous" military escalationin Gaza.
The Israeli military announced the start of a new operation last week and medics in Gaza say Israeli strikes have killed more than 500 people in the past eight days.
Israel has also blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March, prompting international experts to warn of looming famine, although some trucks were allowed to enter on Monday.
Foreign minister David Lammy said the offensive was "a dark new phase in this conflict", called for Israel to end the blockade of aid and condemned comments by finance minister Bezalel Smotrich on the possible cleansing and destruction of Gaza and relocation of its residents to third countries.
"It is extremism. It is dangerous. It is repellent. It is monstrous, and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms," a visibly angry Lammy told lawmakers, adding the operation in Gaza was "incompatible with the principles that underpin our bilateral relationship".
"Today, I'm announcing that we have suspended negotiations with this Israeli government on a new free trade agreement."
Israel said Britain had not advanced the trade talks, which started formally in 2022 under a previous Conservative British government, for some time.
"The British Mandate ended exactly 77 years ago," a spokesperson for its foreign ministry said. "External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction."
SELF-DEFENCE
Britain has said it is committed to Israel's security and argues it has a right to self-defence following the deadly attack on Oct. 7, 2023, by Hamas.
However, Lammy said the new offensive would not secure the release of remaining hostages and that January's ceasefire had shown the better path that Israel should follow.
Earlier Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was "horrified by the escalation" after issuing a joint statement with France and Canada. Lammy said Britain would take further action if Israel pursued its military offensive.
Netanyahu has said his country is engaged in a "war of civilization over barbarism" and vowed it would "continue to defend itself by just means until total victory."
Israel's ground and air war has devastated Gaza, displacing nearly its entire population and killing more than 53,000, according to Gaza health authorities.
Britain suspended 30 of its 350 arms export licences with Israel last year over the risk that equipment could be used in serious violations on international humanitarian law.
Britain on Tuesday also sanctioned a number of individuals and groups in the West Bank who it said had been linked with acts of violence against Palestinians, building on sanctions on a number of settlers and settler organisations imposed in 2024.
Most countries deem Jewish settlements built on land Israel occupied in a 1967 Middle East war as illegal, and their expansion has for decades been among the most contentious issues.
(Reporting by Muvija M, Sachin Ravikumar and Sarah Young, writing by Sam Tabahriti and Alistair Smout; Editing by Kate Holton and Conor Humphries)
Britain, Canada, France threaten sanctions against Israel over Gaza
The leaders of Britain, Canada and France threatened sanctions against Israel if it does not stop a renewed military offensive in Gaza and lift aid restrictions, piling further pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The leaders of Britain, France and Canada warned on Monday that their countries would take action if Israel does not stop a renewed military offensive in Gaza and lift aid restrictions.
The Israeli military announced the start of a new operation on Friday, and earlier on Monday Netanyahu said Israel would take control of the whole of Gaza.
International experts already have warned of looming famine.
"The Israeli Government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching International Humanitarian Law," a joint statement said.
"We oppose any attempt to expand settlements in the West Bank ... We will not hesitate to take further action, including targeted sanctions."
The three governments added they "strongly oppose the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza", and that the level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable.
In response, Netanyahu said that "the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on 7 October while inviting more such atrocities".
He said Israel will defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved, reiterating Israel's conditions to end the war which include the release of the remaining hostages and the demilitarisation of the Gaza strip.
Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March to try to pressure Hamas into freeing the hostages the Palestinian militant group took on 7 October 2023, when it attacked Israeli communities.
"We have always supported Israel's right to defend Israelis against terrorism. But this escalation is wholly disproportionate," the three Western leaders said in their joint statement. They said they would not stand by while Netanyahu's government pursued "these egregious actions."
The Western leaders also stated their support for efforts led by the United States, Qatar and Egypt for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and said they were committed to recognising a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution to the conflict.
Hamas welcomed the joint statement describing the stance as "an important step" in the right direction toward restoring the principles of international law.
Israel's ground and air war has devastated Gaza, displacing nearly all its residents and killing more than 53,000 people, many of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.
The war began with the 7 October 2023, Hamas-led attack in which the militants killed about 1,200 people, including over 690 civilians, and seized 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
(Reuters)
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UN rapporteur says Israel's war in Gaza is 'emptying the land completely'
European and Arab leaders call Israel to stop the attacks in Gaza
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also called for "pressure on Israel to halt the massacre in Gaza" during the Arab League summit in Baghdad, where Arabs and UN leaders voiced similar calls. Italy's government on Saturday also upped its exhortations to Israel to stop deadly military strikes in Gaza, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying: "Enough with the attacks."
"We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer," Tajani said during a trip to Sicily, in remarks relayed by his spokesman. "Let's come to a ceasefire, let's free the hostages, but let's leave people who are victims of Hamas alone," he was cited as saying.
Israel's military has announced it is in the "initial stages" of a new offensive in Gaza aimed at defeating Hamas, after resuming its offensive on March 18, ending a two-month truce in its war against Hamas triggered by the group's October 2023 attack.
More than 100 people in Gaza were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and another 10 on Saturday, according to the Gaza civil defence agency.
International condemnation has escalated over Israel's military actions, and its blockage of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, where more than two million people lived before the war started.
Israel's army said the goal of its latest offensive is to "seize control of areas within the Gaza Strip".
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also called a little earlier on Saturday for "pressure on Israel to halt the massacre in Gaza" and said Madrid plans a UN resolution demanding an International Court of Justice ruling on Israel's war methods.
Sanchez told the Arab League summit in Baghdad that world leaders should "intensify our pressure on Israel to halt the massacre in Gaza, particularly through the channels afforded to us by international law", adding that the "unacceptable number" of victims of the Israel-Hamas war violates the "principle of humanity".
Demonstrations took place in Hamburg, Germany, in the US, and in Paris, France, from Gare du Nord, starting at 2pm local time to call for the end of "massacres" and to mark the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, the forced displacement of Palestinians started in 1948 by Israel.
As Arab leaders on Saturday held this summit in Baghdad, they also urged the international community as well to apply pressure for a Gaza ceasefire and humanitarian aid access to the besieged Palestinian territory.
"We call on the international community... to exert pressure to end the bloodshed and ensure that urgent humanitarian aid can enter without obstacles all areas in need in Gaza," the leaders said in a joint final statement at the summit.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged his US counterpart Donald Trump to apply pressure for a ceasefire.
"I call on President Trump, as a leader who wants to consolidate peace, to apply all necessary efforts and pressure for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip," which would pave the way "for a serious political process in which he would be a mediator and a sponsor," Sisi said in his address to an Arab League.
Finally, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called for a permanent and immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
"We need a permanent ceasefire, now," Guterres told leaders gathered in Baghdad. "I am alarmed by reported plans by Israel to expand ground operations and more."
Israel and Hamas resumed ceasefire talks on Saturday in Doha in Qatar, both sides said, even as Israeli forces ramped up a bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of people over 72 hours, and mobilised for a massive new ground assault.
A senior Hamas official said this new round of indirect negotiations with Israel, aimed at ending the war in Gaza, started "without any preconditions" on Saturday.
"Hamas will present its viewpoint on all issues, especially ending the war, (Israel's) withdrawal and prisoner exchange."
Prior rounds of negotiations have failed to secure a breakthrough on ending the war, and a two-month ceasefire between the sides fell apart when Israel resumed its operations in Gaza on 18 March.
The renewed fighting came after Israel imposed a total aid blockade on the territory that UN agencies warn has created critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines.
(with AFP)
Semafor reveals:
The Trump administration plans to host a summit for African leaders this year in order to shift its relationship with the continent, according to the US State Department’s senior official for African affairs.
“‘Trade, not aid,’ a slogan we’ve seen thrown around for years, is now truly our policy for Africa — a shift I know you have long sought and one that I am committed to strengthening,” Troy Fitrell said in a speech at an American Chamber of Commerce event in Abidjan on Wednesday.
Fitrell, addressing a separate event on Tuesday, said that “commerce, migration, and peace,” would be Washington’s priorities in its relationship with Africa. He later placed an emphasis on “commercial diplomacy,” with all US ambassadors in Africa now being evaluated on how effectively they advocate for American business.
Fitrell, previously an ambassador to Guinea, did not immediately provide further details of the summit, but it is an idea that many Africa watchers in Washington had pushed for ahead of the incoming administration. The last US-African leaders summit was hosted by President Joe Biden in December 2022.
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