LONDON: The UK government must launch an independent Iraq war-style inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the Gaza conflict, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said.
He made the appeal in a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer seen by Sky News. There is public concern that British officials have been involved “in the gravest breaches of international law” because of the UK’s ties to Israel, Corbyn said.
“These charges will not go away until there is a comprehensive, public, independent inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth.”
In the letter, the independent MP said he had been investigating and seeking answers on the UK’s sale of F-35 jet components to Israel, the involvement of British military bases in the war, and the legal definition of genocide. But Corbyn said he has been met with “evasion, obstruction and silence.”
The government is “leaving the public in the dark over the ways in which the responsibilities of government have been discharged,” he added.
Corbyn warned that “history is repeating itself,” drawing parallels to the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war, which found that the UK’s decision to invade the country was based on “flawed intelligence and assessments.”
The inquiry’s report was published in 2016 and contained significant criticism of former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Corbyn will now work with colleagues “in pursuing all avenues to establish an independent inquiry” into the Gaza war, the letter said.
“Today, the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 61,000,” it added. “At least 110,000 — or one in 20 — people have been injured. It is estimated that 92 percent of housing units have been destroyed or damaged.
“Two Israeli officials are now wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Starmer has struggled to contain divisions within his Labour Party over the war in Gaza, and faced criticism for suggesting that Israel had a right to limit essential supplies to the Palestinian enclave
The previous government under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was warned last April — in a letter signed by more than 600 lawyers and academics, as well as three former Supreme Court justices — that it was in breach of international law by continuing to supply Israel with weaponry.
The current government suspended some arms sales to Israel, but did not pause licenses for components of the F-35 jet that has been used by the Israeli military to strike Gaza.
A UK government spokesperson said: “Our priority since day one has been a sustainable ceasefire, and a lasting peace that will ensure the long-term peace and security of both Palestinians and Israelis.
“We must build confidence on all sides that helps sustain the ceasefire and move it from phase one through to phase three, and into a lasting peace and an end to the suffering on all sides.”
