LONDON: A pro-Israel pressure group in the UK has been condemned for suggesting that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip may benefit from a reduction in obesity levels arising from the war, The Guardian reported on Saturday.

The comments — made by Jonathan Turner, head of UK Lawyers for Israel — followed a series of warnings by the UN and aid agencies that Gaza faces imminent famine.

Turner, on behalf of UKLFI, was responding to a motion set to be debated at the annual general meeting of the Co-operative Group, a major British retailer.

The motion calls for the Co-operative to stop stocking Israeli products, as part of the worldwide Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. UKLFI urged the Co-operative council to withdraw the motion.

In doing so, Turner highlighted the motion’s reference to a letter published last year by The Lancet, a leading medical journal, which said the death toll in Gaza could be far higher than the 52,000 put forth by the enclave’s Health Ministry.

Turner said the letter “ignored factors that may increase average life expectancy in Gaza, bearing in mind that one of the biggest health issues in Gaza prior to the current war was obesity … These factors include the possible reduction in the availability of confectionery and cigarettes.”

Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said on X that Turner’s comments represent “atrocious views,” adding: “How very kind of Israel to put 2.3 million Palestinians on an enforced diet to improve their obesity levels.”

The Lancet has published several studies relating to Israel’s war in Gaza. One found that life expectancy in the enclave plunged by 34.9 years during the first year of the war. Gaza’s pre-war life expectancy was 75.5 years.

Since March, Israel has implemented a total blockade on the entry of humanitarian goods to the enclave.

Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: “As children in the Gaza Strip face the growing risk of starvation, illness and death, the suggestion by the head of UK Lawyers for Israel that they might benefit from weight loss is utterly sickening.

“These repulsive comments illustrate exactly what it means to be ‘for Israel’ and how low its apologists are prepared to sink in their attempts to justify genocide in Gaza.”

UKLFI previously faced controversy over the removal of artwork made by Palestinian children in a London hospital.

The organization submitted a complaint to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in 2023, claiming that artwork created by Palestinian children and displayed in the facility made Jewish patients feel “vulnerable, harassed and victimized.” The hospital removed the works.