Rishi Sunak increased the pressure on Israel over the civilian death toll in Gaza by reiterating calls for a “sustainable ceasefire” that were ramped up by Lord Cameron at the weekend.
The UK is continuing to press for a consensus among its allies that Israel is going too far in its conflict with Hamas and is now publicly airing concerns previously conveyed in private.
Downing Street said a “sustainable ceasefire” is one “that can last, that means that Hamas no longer has a place in Israel, that rockets have stopped firing, that the hostages are returned”, while suggesting the Government’s policy had not changed.
But Government insiders acknowledge there has been a shift in tone and emphasis as Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron prepares to visit the Middle East later this week.
i understands that ministers and diplomats have privately been calling on Israel to take care to avoid civilian casualties since the start of the conflict, triggered by the unprecedented 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas.
But the Government has felt the need to express these calls more vocally as more details emerge about thousands of innocent deaths, particularly as the conflict has moved to the south of Gaza after the destruction of much of the north and the driving of 85 per cent of the territory’s population of 2.3 million from their homes.
Despite claims that Mr Sunak has outsourced foreign policy to Lord Cameron, i understands the decision to use the language of ceasefire was taken together, with the Prime Minister first using the phrase in the Commons last week.
Both felt it was important to explain the UK position in these terms after the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted last week for a ceasefire and left the Government open to questions about why it did not back the call.
It also came after Lord Cameron’s visit to the United States earlier this month, when Washington’s tone was shifting considerably as Joe Biden’s administration was urging Israel to end the conflict in weeks rather than months to spare civilian lives.
And while Lord Cameron was not a specific driver of the rhetorical shift, a senior Government source acknowledged that the former prime minister’s leading role adds “weight” to the UK’s response to the conflict internationally.
Mr Sunak spoke after former defence secretary Ben Wallace warned against a “killing rage”. He said Israel’s “original legal authority of self-defence is being undermined by its own actions” and that it risked fuelling the conflict for 50 more years.
The Prime Minister said: “Israel obviously has a right to defend itself against what was an appalling terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas, but it must do that in accordance with humanitarian law.
“It’s clear that too many civilian lives have been lost and nobody wants to see this conflict go on a day longer than it has to.
“And that’s why we’ve been consistent – and I made this point in Parliament last week – in calling for a sustainable ceasefire, whereby hostages are released, rockets stopped being fired into Israel by Hamas and we continue to get more aid in.”
Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli administration is facing mounting international concern over the scale of civilian casualties.
The US, Israel’s main ally, has expressed growing unease about the conduct of the war.
On Sunday, French foreign minister Catherine Colonna called for an “immediate truce” aimed at releasing more hostages, getting larger amounts of aid into Gaza and moving towards “the beginning of a political solution”.
Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Wallace warned: “Netanyahu’s mistake was to miss the (Hamas) attack in the first place.
“But if he thinks a killing rage will rectify matters, then he is very wrong. His methods will not solve this problem. In fact, I believe his tactics will fuel the conflict for another 50 years.”
Alicia Kearns, Conservative chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said she believed Israel had broken international humanitarian law and lost its moral authority.
She told BBC Radio 4’s World At One: “Hamas is an ideology which recruits into its membership. Bombs don’t obliterate an ideology and neither can a stable state be constructed from oblivion.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, meanwhile, said “we need to get to a sustainable ceasefire as quickly as possible”.