British FM threatens to punish Israel over Gaza war, condemns new aid transfer system

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy excoriates Israel over Gaza airstrikes and humanitarian aid transfers, threatening punitive measures against Israel if no ceasefire reached with Hamas in the near future.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Britain’s foreign minister sharply criticized Israel over the new humanitarian aid delivery system in the Gaza Strip, while also threatening to take punitive steps against the Jewish state if the war in Gaza is not brought to an end in the near future.

On Monday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy addressed Parliament regarding the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas terror organization.

In the wake of claims by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, Lammy claimed that close to 1,000 civilians have been killed while seeking aid at the four relief depots run by the US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

The GHF depots, secured by the IDF, were established with Israeli backing as a means for preventing Hamas from seizing incoming humanitarian goods.

However, Lammy called the new system “inhuman” and “dangerous.”

“The new Israeli aid system is inhumane, it is dangerous, and it deprives Gazans of human dignity,” Lammy told British lawmakers.

“It contradicts long-established humanitarian principles. It creates disorder that Hamas has now exploited, with distribution points reduced from 400 to just 4.”

“It forces desperate civilians, children among them, to scramble unsafely for the essentials of life. It is a grotesque spectacle, wrecking a terrible human cost. Almost 1,000 civilians have been killed since May seeking aid, including 100… this weekend.”

A day later, Lammy doubled down on his criticism of the new aid distribution system, while also slamming Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

“We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food,” Lammy told the BBC.

Britain recently joined with more than two dozen other countries in demanding Israel lift all restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

Israel has denied claims of a famine in the Gaza Strip, adding that delays to the entry of more humanitarian aid into Gaza are the result of United Nations bureaucratic red tape, not Israeli restrictions.

Some 950 aid trucks were waiting on the Israeli side of the border as of Tuesday, Israel said, waiting on approval from the UN and international relief agencies.

Lammy expressed hope that a ceasefire ending the Gaza war will be reached by August, while warning that should the war continue, the UK may work with its allies to impose punitive measures against Israel.

“I hope and pray that there will be a ceasefire in August,” Lammy told Sky News.

“We will consider other acts with partners in the coming weeks if we do not see the ceasefire that we want to see.”