Labour MP pushes UK to take ‘military action’ against Israel

Lawmaker from the ruling Labour Party calls on Britain to intervene militarily against Israel.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Labour MP Tahir Ali has called for Britain to take “military action” against the State of Israel, intervening during a House of Commons debate in which lawmakers clashed over Hamas disarmament, sanctions on Israel, and the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Ali, who represents Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley, made the intervention Monday evening as Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord was arguing that Hamas must give up its weapons as part of any lasting political settlement.

Foord said Hamas remained a terrorist organization and that its continued ability to threaten Israeli civilians posed an obstacle to peace.

He said the group’s “disarmament and disbandment must be part of any lasting solution.”

Ali responded by questioning why disarmament demands should be confined to Hamas and pointed to previous British military interventions in the Middle East.

“Is it not about time that military action was taken against Israel as well?” Ali asked.

He did not specify whether he was proposing strikes, the deployment of British forces or some other form of military intervention.

Foord rejected drawing an equivalence between Israel and Hamas, saying Britain regards the latter as a proscribed terrorist organization.

He said the peace framework required Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza as Hamas disarmed, distinguishing between those obligations rather than calling for the Israeli state itself to be disarmed.

The intervention came during a lengthy Commons debate on Israel and the Palestinians following a significant shift in British policy announced by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband the previous week.

The government said September 8 that it would introduce a ban on imports from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and create new powers to sanction companies and individuals involved in settlement activity. Miliband also announced that Britain would refuse export-license applications for weapons and other goods judged to materially contribute to Israel’s presence in the territories.

The government has stressed that those measures are directed at settlement activity and Israeli government policies rather than Israel as a country.

Opening Monday’s Commons debate, Middle East Minister Stephen Doughty said Britain continued to have an “important security, intelligence and defense relationship” with Israel, while maintaining that London had serious disagreements with the Israeli government over its conduct in Gaza and Judea and Samaria. He also reiterated that Hamas could have no role in a future Palestinian government and “must disarm.”

Doughty said the government had already suspended or refused more than 80 export licenses connected to Gaza and would additionally reject licenses for exports materially contributing to Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria.

At the same time, he emphasized that Britain was not imposing a general trade embargo on Israel and continued to oppose the broader Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

Ali’s call for military action went considerably further than the measures announced by the government.

It was also not the first time the Labour MP had raised the possibility of deploying British armed forces in connection with Israel.

During a Commons exchange with then-foreign secretary David Lammy in July 2025, Ali accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and asked whether Britain would “send military personnel to protect Palestinians.”

Ali has also previously argued that Israel should be required to relinquish its nuclear weapons.

During a May 2026 Commons exchange, he questioned why Britain was demanding that Iran not obtain nuclear weapons without applying the same principle to Israel, asking whether Israel should also disarm.

Monday’s debate exposed broader disagreement in Parliament over how much further Britain should go in putting pressure on Jerusalem.

Labour MP Imran Hussain called for the government to end all remaining arms sales to Israel and specifically demanded an end to Britain’s participation in the F-35 supply chain where components may ultimately reach Israeli aircraft.

Hussain accused the Netanyahu government of genocide in Gaza, a characterization the British government has not itself adopted and says should be determined through appropriate legal processes.

Other MPs questioned the government from the opposite direction.

DUP MP Jim Shannon warned of a possible diplomatic clash with Israel and the United States and raised concerns from Jewish constituents about the government’s newly announced measures.

Doughty responded that Britain’s dispute was with the actions of the Israeli government and not with Israel or the Israeli people.