Conservatives Rishi Sunak meeting with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu in
Jerusalem, 19 October 2023 In the aftermath of the
October 7 attacks, UK Prime Minister
Rishi Sunak pledged the United Kingdom's support for Israel and declared that Israel "has an absolute right to defend itself". Sunak backed calls for humanitarian pauses to allow for aid to be brought into the Gaza Strip during the
Gaza conflict, although he initially rejected calls for a full ceasefire as he argued that this would only benefit Hamas. However, Sunak later condemned the high number of civilian casualties during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and called for a "sustainable ceasefire" in which all Israeli hostages are returned to Israel, attacks against Israel cease and humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza. His government supports the
two-state solution as a resolution to the conflict. Since the outbreak of the war, Sunak's government pledged millions of pounds in humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza and pushed for the opening of the
Rafah Border Crossing to allow for the evacuation of British nationals and the provision of aid to civilians. Sunak also deployed
Royal Navy and
Royal Air Force assets to patrol the eastern
Mediterranean Sea with the stated purpose of supporting humanitarian efforts and monitoring threats to regional security. Sunak's administration implemented sanctions against leading figures in Hamas and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including Hamas co-founder
Mahmoud al-Zahar, as well as imposing travel bans against Israeli settlers involved in violent activities in the
West Bank. Sunak reaffirmed his support for humanitarian pauses and an eventual ceasefire in the war in Gaza ahead of a debate on the subject on 21 February, but argued that an immediate ceasefire would not be successful and would not be in anyone's interest. The following day, the
Scottish National Party tabled an
opposition day amendment calling for an immediate ceasefire. Sunak's government tabled an amendment supporting an eventual ceasefire while emphasizing its support for Israel's right to self-defence and opposition to Hamas. However, in a break with Parliamentary convention, Speaker of the House
Lindsay Hoyle chose to select a non-binding Labour Party amendment calling for an immediate ceasefire to be voted on first, which led to the government withdrawing its amendment and the Labour amendment being passed without a vote taking place. Amidst the ensuing controversy, Sunak described Hoyle's actions as "very concerning" but did not support calls from within the Conservative Party for the Speaker to be ousted. When the
International Criminal Court prosecutor
Karim Ahmad Khan announced that he would seek to charge Israeli president
Benjamin Netanyahu with war crimes, Sunak denounced the move as "unhelpful" and accused Khan of drawing a moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas.
David Cameron Foreign Secretary
David Cameron visited the site of the
Be'eri massacre on 23 November to meet Israeli foreign minister
Eli Cohen. Afterwards, he met the Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss among other urgent matters, facilitating further aid to
Gaza. Cameron said in an interview with the BBC that he told Israeli officials that "they must abide by international humanitarian law" and that the number of
Palestinian casualties was "too high". He also said that the "settler violence" against Palestinians in the occupied
West Bank is "completely unacceptable". Cameron backed a "sustainable ceasefire" in the
Gaza war on 17 December, called for more aid to reach Gaza, and called for the Israeli government to "do more to discriminate sufficiently between terrorists and civilians". He, however, rejected calls for a "general and immediate ceasefire", differentiating this from the "sustainable ceasefire" he called for alongside German foreign minister
Annalena Baerbock. ,
President of Palestine, January 2024 In January 2024, he expressed concern about potential breaches of international law by Israel, specifically addressing the need for Israel to
restore water supplies to Gaza. Cameron supported the February 2024 US Senate bill to allocate military aid to Ukraine Taiwan and Israel, saying that he did not want the West to "show weakness displayed against
Vladimir Putin in 2008, when he
invaded Georgia, or the uncertainty of the response in 2014, when he
took Crimea and
much of the Donbas—before coming back to cost us far more with his aggression in 2022". In the event the Senate bill failed to pass in the
House of Representatives, where it was stalled by the
GOP partisans of
Donald Trump. At last a
redrafted legislative package was put forward by Speaker
Mike Johnson each of which
passed the House with bipartisan support and large majorities on 20 April, but not before Cameron was snubbed by Johnson.
Iran attacked Israel in April 2024 with 301 drones and missiles, and the UK aided Israel to shoot them all down with
RAF Eurofighter Typhoons. Cameron told
LBC radio host
Nick Ferrari that, were the UK to offer the same sort of support to Ukraine, it would represent a "dangerous escalation." In the same month, he became the first British foreign secretary to visit
Tajikistan,
Kyrgyzstan and
Turkmenistan. Cameron claimed that in July 2024 he had been preparing to sanction Israeli ministers
Itamar Ben-Gvir and
Bezalel Smotrich for inciting violence against Palestinians, but his attempts had been derailed by the general election. In September 2024, a former
Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office official stated that Cameron sat on clear evidence of
Israeli war crimes, despite the risk of UK complicity with these breaches.
Suella Braverman (middle) with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 12 October 2023 Following the
October 7 attacks, then home secretary
Suella Braverman said in a letter to chief constables in
England and Wales: "I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as: '
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' (...) in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravated
section 5 public order offence", adding that "Behaviours that are legitimate in some circumstances, for example the waving of a
Palestinian flag, may not be legitimate such as when intended to glorify acts of
terrorism". She later described
subsequent pro-Palestine marches during the
Israel–Gaza war as "hate marches (...) chanting for the erasure of
Israel from the map" containing a "large number of bad actors who are deliberately operating beneath the criminal threshold". In criticism of marches proposed to take place on Armistice Day, she cited "reports that some of Saturday's march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas" and compared it to
marches in Northern Ireland.
Scotland's First Minister
Humza Yousaf called for her resignation and accused her of "fanning the flames of division". The Labour Party and some police officers said that Braverman's writing had led to far-right supporters attacking police on 11 November. Braverman wrote an opinion piece that was published in
The Times on 8 November which included a statement that there was "a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters" and were tougher on right-wing extremists than pro-Palestinian "mobs".
The Guardian reported that the Prime Minister's office had asked for changes to be made to the article, but not all were implemented.
Other Conservatives In the first month of the war, Conservative MP
Paul Bristow wrote to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asking him to call for a ceasefire – an act for which his party sacked him from his government role as ministerial aide. Conservative
Ben Wallace, former-
Secretary of State for Defence, said Israel's war tactics "will fuel the conflict for another 50 years [and] are radicalising Muslim youth across the globe."
Labour at 10 Downing Street, September 2025 Shortly after the initial Hamas attack, Labour issued a warning to its
MPs and
council members that they should not attend pro-Palestine rallies. In October 2023, Labour MP
Apsana Begum visited a
Palestine Solidarity Campaign stall, posing for a picture, at the
Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. Labour MP
Andy McDonald spoke at a pro-Palestine rally; following the rally, Labour fired him because he had said "
from the river to the sea". In the early weeks of the war, hundreds of Labour
councillors wrote to Starmer urging him to call for a ceasefire. In October 2023, the leaders of
Greater Manchester's 10
metropolitan district councils (all but one of which were led by Labour), the Labour
mayor of Greater Manchester,
Andy Burnham, and
Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Policing and Crime Kate Green, released a statement calling for a ceasefire. Dozens resigned from the Labour Party in the first month of the war because the party had not yet called for a ceasefire. This included former city mayor
Claire Darke, and Labour MP
Imran Hussain, who resigned from his
shadow minister role because he could not advocate for a ceasefire while in the position. Under pressure from party members to back a ceasefire, in the third week of the war, Starmer adapted the official Labour position to one critical of Israeli military bombardment, but falling short of calling for a ceasefire. In December 2023, Starmer said there needed to be "a sustainable ceasefire as quickly as possible". In February 2024, the Labour Party called for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire".
Keir Starmer ,
President of Palestine, September 2024 After the
Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which began the
Gaza war, Labour leader and
Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer expressed support for Israel, condemned Hamas's attack, and said, "This action by Hamas does nothing for Palestinians. And Israel must always have the
right to defend her people." In an interview with
LBC on 11 October 2023, Starmer was asked whether it would be appropriate for Israel to
totally cut off power and water supplies to the Gaza Strip, with Starmer replying that "I think that Israel does have that right" and that "obviously everything should be done within international law". On 20 October, after criticism and resignations of Labour councillors, Starmer said that he only meant that Israel had the right to defend itself. Starmer had said that a ceasefire would only benefit Hamas for future attacks, instead calling for a humanitarian pause to allow aid to reach Gaza. As of 6 November 2023, 50 of Labour's councillors had resigned over the issue. On 16 November 2023, Starmer suffered a major rebellion when 56 of his MPs (including ten frontbenchers) defied a three-line whip in voting for a
Scottish National Party (SNP) motion proposed by
Stephen Flynn to support an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza. Prior to the vote, Starmer stated that Labour MPs with positions in his Shadow Cabinet would be sacked if they voted in favour of the ceasefire vote. The Labour Party under Starmer suspended several parliamentary candidates and MPs, including
Graham Jones,
Andy McDonald, Azhar Ali and
Kate Osamor, for allegedly making anti-Semitic comments about Israel during the Israel-Hamas war, or for describing its conduct as
genocide. On 18 February 2024, Starmer called for a "ceasefire that lasts" and said it must "happen now".
David Lammy , July 2024
Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy issued a statement condemning the 7 October attacks as "unprovoked". In a speech at a
Labour Friends of Israel event shortly after the attack, Lammy said “We hold on to the ideal of a two-state solution and we say to Hamas, your actions have set back the cause of peace. Free the hostages. Let them come home. Put down your weapons. Because as surely as night follows day, we say, of course Israel has a right to defend itself.” During a visit to Israel he called for "[h]ard diplomacy...with all governments in the region" to deliver a humanitarian pause and secure the release of
Israeli hostages in Gaza. When asked to comment on Israel's
bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp in November, Lammy said that the bombing was morally wrong but added "if there is a military objective it can be legally justifiable". Lammy abstained from voting on a Parliamentary motion to call for a ceasefire in the conflict, but later supported an immediate ceasefire in an April 2024 speech. After a Foreign Office internal review found a "serious risk" that Britain's arms exports to Israel were being used in violation of international law, Lammy suspended 30 export licenses for drone and aircraft components. Lammy supported the International Criminal Court's request for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, stating that "Democracies that believe in the rule of law must submit themselves to it". On 17 March 2025, in response to questions asked of him in the House of Commons, Lammy twice stated that Israel's
blockade of humanitarian supplies into Gaza was a "breach" of
international law. This was the first time that a member of the UK Government had stated that Israel was in breach of international law. However, Keir Starmer's office publicly rejected Lammy's statement that Israel had breached international law by blocking Gaza. Starmer's office stated that it was up to the Foreign Office to decide whether Lammy should apologise for his criticism of Israel. On 18 March 2025, Lammy told
Bloomberg it was a "matter for the court" to decide if Israel had breached international law.
Wes Streeting In February 2026, British health secretary
Wes Streeting released private messages between himself and ambassador to the US
Peter Mandelson. The messages were released in the aftermath of the
Epstein files disclosures regarding the
relationship of Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein. In messages from July 2025, Streeting wrote that "Israel is committing war crimes before our eyes." Streeting also wrote that Israel was engaging in "rogue state behaviour" and that sanctions should be "applied to the state, not just a few ministers."
George Galloway In January 2024,
George Galloway announced that he would stand in the
Rochdale by-election the following month, for his party; the
Workers Party of Britain. He was elected in a
political upset after Azhar Ali, the Labour candidate, lost the support of his party due to comments made regarding the
Hamas-led attack on Israel. Galloway won almost 40% of the vote and overturned a Labour majority of 9,668. The Israel–Hamas war dominated the campaign. In his election speech, Galloway said "Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza. You will pay a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Gaza, in the Gaza Strip". Galloway subsequently lost the seat four months later in the
general election that July to Labour's candidate Paul Waugh. == Protests ==