Andy Burnham Defiant as Israel Bans 11 MPs: Prime Minister Acts Over '70,000 Dead' in Gaza

Prime Minister Andy Burnham made an unequivocal stand against the Israeli government, in a tweet on his personal X account: 'Today we are announcing carefully judged, targeted steps that are not aimed at the Israeli people, but at the unacceptable policies of the current Israeli government.'

He announced sanctions targeting Israeli settlements, including a 'ban on the trade in goods with illegal settlements in Palestine.' Burnham said the UK's stand had always been to recognise a two-state solution in the Middle East, but the Israeli government has approved 104 new settlements in the occupied West Bank since late 2022.

Why Now?

Burnham admitted that the UK has been hesitant in making a firm stand on the Israel-Palestine conflict: 'For too long, we have been hesitant to act, fearful of being accused of being anti-Israel... The Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful—independent of, but in line with, the conclusion of the International Court of Justice.'

The Court, in a landmark advisory opinion of 19 July 2024, declared Israel's continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem, as 'unlawful.'

'We will sanction individuals and companies that support, facilitate, or profit from illegal settlements. That includes any business or investors that take part in the construction of the E1 settlement,' Burnham also said. E1 refers to a proposed Israeli settlement development on Palestinian land.

Similar measures were announced by British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband in an oral statement to the House of Commons, delivered before Burnham's tweet.

Israel Bans 11 MPs

The Israeli government announced countermeasures against Miliband's statements. Gideon Sa'ar, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that the British Consulate in Jerusalem will be closed and British representatives will be expelled from the international aid center for Gaza in Kiryat Gat.

Further, British training among Palestinian forces in the West Bank will be stopped and 12 elected officials and British citizens involved in anti-Israel and antisemitic activities will be banned from entering the territory.

The banned MPs are Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana of Your Party, Diane Abbott, Naz Shah, John McDonnell and Richard Burgon of the Labour Party, and Carla Denyer, Adrian Ramsay, Ellie Chowns, Sian Berry and Hannah Spencer of the Green Party. Lawyer Fahad Ansari is also banned. He has represented Hamas's political wing in court in the UK.

Corbyn was unfazed by the ban: 'I have visited all parts of Palestine on several occasions, where I have witnessed the horrors of occupation, as well as the resilience and humanity of the Palestinian people... Israel's genocide cannot go unpunished.'

Burnham mentioned the thousands of people who died from the conflict: 'The suffering of the Palestinian people is a scar on the conscience of the world... More than 70,000 people lie dead—at least 20,000 of them children... Millions displaced. And the population of Gaza is now penned into just one third of the territory.'

According to the British Red Cross, the death toll in Gaza is over 69,000, including 17,000 children. In the West Bank, the death toll is over 1,000, including 200 children, with about 6,000 people injured.

In Israel, almost 1,200 people were killed and some 5,400 people were injured in the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas. Some 200 hostages were also taken.