Miliband says Gaza situation ‘horrific’, UK must act ‘more decisively’

British foreign secretary Ed Miliband has said the situation unfolding in Gaza was “horrific” and the UK government needed to act “more decisively than we have”.

“So, I just came out of this meeting talking about Gaza to people who've been there and are there on the ground and frankly it was horrific what is unfolding,” Miliband said in an Instagram video released by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

“You know the stories that people were telling me of medicines being blocked, children dying while waiting for vital life-saving treatment. When you hear that account of what is happening you know that we as a UK government, as the Prime Minister has said, have got to act and act more decisively than we have,” he added.

On Tuesday, Miliband told British MPs that his government plan to impose "comprehensive" package of sanctions in the coming weeks. 

Miliband said Israel's new plan in area E1 "risks making a Palestinian state unviable".

The proposed Israeli E1 project is designed to connect Jerusalem to Ma'ale Adumim and other settlements east of the city, carving into land on which Palestinians seek to establish their state.

"This government will not acquiesce in the destruction of the two-state solution," Miliband said.

Speaking to lawmakers as foreign secretary for the first time since his appointment in July, Miliband said that “we need to look, and we are looking indeed, at our wider economic relationship with the occupied territories and the different tools we have to tackle it”.

“I want to be very clear: we do not want British companies financing, constructing, or advertising new settlements,” he added.

Miliband also condemned what he called "appalling settler terrorism" in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, however, warned that Israel would retaliate should the UK imposed sanctions over illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

During an interview with Israeli news outlet Ynet on Tuesday, Sa'ar was asked about the tense relationship between Israel and the UK over recent Israeli plans to further expand settlements.

Sa'ar accused the Labour government of "acting systematically against Israel", adding that it has "already harmed defence exports to us and imposed sanctions on ministers".

"If Britain acts against Israel, Israel will act against Britain," Sa'ar said.

He told Ynet that Israel is now bracing for UK sanctions and preparing a response.

In response to UK’s plans to introduce stronger measures against illegal Israeli settlements, Israel is also considering expelling British officials from the US-led International Gaza Support Center (IGSC), which was established to monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

According to the Financial Times, the Israeli government is also considering expelling Italy and Germany from the IGSC.

The British government’s plans for sanctions have sparked calls from Jewish and Palestinian groups for a stronger action against Israel.

UK Jewish groups urge ‘stronger’ action

Leading members of Jewish civil society groups have written to British Prime Minister Andy Burnham urging him to adopt stronger measures on Israel and "oppose any further attempts to muzzle the Palestine marches".

Major British Jewish organisations, including the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies of British Jews urged the government not to impose a ban on settlement goods earlier this week and met Burnham in Downing Street.

UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said on Monday that he had met Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and warned sanctions on Israel would have a "negative impact" on British Jews.

But on Thursday, leading members of Holocaust Survivors and Descendants against Gaza Genocide (HSD), Jewish Voice for Liberation (formerly Jewish Voice for Labour) and Jews for Justice for Palestinians, sent a letter to the prime minister arguing the opposite.

Seen by MEE, the letter says: "There are several Jewish 'communities' and a wide diversity of views on Israel among Jewish people in the UK and we trust that you will meet with us and other members of the Jewish Bloc in the near future."

The letter also says: "We eagerly await your premiership in the light of your recent call for stronger action against Israel, along with your apology for the Labour Government's slowness to call for a ceasefire."

Act ‘urgently and comprehensively’

The Labour Muslim Network (LMN) and International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) have published a legal briefing urging the British government to act "urgently and comprehensively" to apply pressure on Israel over its actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The LMN, a group within the Labour Party, told Middle East Eye: "The Israeli government’s E1 settlement project could destroy the future of a viable Palestinian state.
"Settlement expansion, settler violence and terrorism, and the forcible displacement of Palestinian communities in the West Bank are accelerating on a daily basis."