Rafah invasion ‘must not go ahead’: UK Labour leader

Keir Starmer’s comments came after the Israeli military told Palestinian civilians in the area to leave ahead of a planned offensive. (Screenshot/Sky News)
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Updated 06 May 2024
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Rafah invasion ‘must not go ahead’: UK Labour leader

  • Keir Starmer calls for ‘immediate ceasefire, release of hostages, unimpeded aid into Gaza’
  • Israeli defense minister warns of ‘powerful operation in very near future’

LONDON: An Israeli offensive in the Gazan city of Rafah “must not go ahead,” the leader of the UK’s main opposition Labour Party said on Monday.

Keir Starmer’s comments came after the Israeli military told Palestinian civilians in the area to leave ahead of a planned offensive. 

“With more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering in Rafah, an Israeli offensive must not go ahead,” Starmer wrote on X.

“There must be an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, and unimpeded aid into Gaza that can be delivered regularly, quickly and safely.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Sunday of “a powerful operation in the very near future in Rafah.”

Starmer was echoed by his Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who posted on X that an invasion of Rafah “would be catastrophic.”

Shadow International Development Secretary Lisa Nandy warned that people trapped in Rafah “have nowhere else to go.”

So far, at least 34,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war last October.


Trump administration ends temporary protected status for Yemen

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Trump administration ends temporary protected status for Yemen

  • Decision ends humanitarian protections that grant deportation relief and work permits to more ‌than 1,000 Yemeni nationals
US President Donald Trump’s administration has ​ended temporary protected status for Yemen, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said on Friday, the latest move targeting immigrants.
The decision to end humanitarian protections that grant deportation relief and work permits to more ‌than a ‌thousand Yemeni nationals was ​taken ‌after ⁠determining ​that it ⁠was against the US “national interest,” Noem said.
TPS provides relief to people already in the US if their home countries experience a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary ⁠event. The Trump administration has ‌sought to ‌end most enrollment in ​the program, saying ‌it runs counter to US interests.
“After ‌reviewing conditions in the country and consulting with appropriate US government agencies, I determined that Yemen no longer meets ‌the law’s requirements to be designated for Temporary Protected Status,” she ⁠said.
Around ⁠1,380 Yemeni nationals were covered by the temporary protected status as of March 31, 2025, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The status was last extended in 2024 and was set to expire on March 3 this year.