LONDON: Israel has gone “beyond reasonable self-defense” in its military operations in Gaza and may have broken international law, the UK’s shadow health secretary told Sky News on Monday.
The main opposition Labour Party “want to see a ceasefire” ahead of a vote in the UK’s House of Commons on the matter this week brought by the Scottish National Party, Wes Streeting said.
“We want to see a ceasefire, of course we do, and we have been increasingly concerned, as the wider international community has been, with the disproportionate loss of civilian life in Gaza,” he added.
“Israel has a responsibility to get its hostages back. Every country in the world has a right to defend itself.
“But I think what we have seen are actions that go beyond reasonable self-defense and also call into question whether Israel has broken international law. The ICJ (International Court of Justice) are now investigating and we take all of that seriously.”
More than 28,000 people are believed to have died in Gaza after Israel launched a military offensive following the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
On Jan. 26, the ICJ said Israel should take steps to prevent genocide in Gaza after a case was brought by South Africa.
Streeting said he believes Israel has exceeded proportionality in its response to the Hamas attack, telling Sky News: “I think, objectively, yes, Israel has gone too far. And we have seen that with a disproportionate loss of innocent civilian life.”
In a separate interview with Talk TV, he said Labour has yet to decide what to do on the SNP motion demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.
“We’ll see what the final motion looks like,” he added. “We’re considering our own options on this — we all want to see a ceasefire. We’ve seen an intolerable loss of innocent civilian life during the course of this war.
“But we’re not going to be pushed around by protesters, and we’re not going to be told what to say by our opponents in parliament either.”
In an earlier SNP ceasefire motion put to the Commons in November, 56 Labour MPs agreed with the motion, defying their party’s leadership.
However, over time Labour’s position has softened, and on Sunday its leader Sir Keir Starmer told a party conference in Scotland that fighting in Gaza “must stop now.”
Streeting told Times Radio that Labour has “taken a lot of criticism” over its position on Gaza.
“I am not the only person in this country who has shed tears looking at images of the bodies of children and innocent civilians coming out of Gaza,” he said, “so I understand why people are vocal in calling for a ceasefire.”
