‘UK has a moral and legal responsibility to ensure Israel
complies with international law' – MP
Today (Tuesday 26 August) Plaid Cymru have called on the UK
Government to impose a number of sanctions on Israel in order to
put pressure on them to comply with international law.
Plaid Cymru has already called for the immediate and
unconditional recognition of Palestine as well as the end to all
arms sales to Israel.
However, the party's Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, MP said that meaningful action by
the UK Government was required in the form of economic sanctions
against Israel.
Plaid Cymru is calling on the UK Government to:
- Suspend the UK's current trade agreement with Israel.
- Suspend the 2030 Roadmap for a closer UK-Israel
partnership
- Sanctions on all individuals suspected of breaching
international law
- Ban the import of goods from illegal Israeli Settlements in
Palestine
Mr Lake had said that trade agreements that provide Israel with
preferential treatment must be suspended as well as halting the
2030 roadmap for a closer partnership between the UK and Israel –
a call that is backed by legal experts.
Although the UK's Foreign Secretary has already announced that
sanctions would be imposed on two Israeli ministers along with
some Israeli settlers, Plaid Cymru is pressing the UK Government
to issue asset freezes and travel bans on senior members of the
Israeli Government and military, responsible for the incitement
of genocide in Gaza and for the maintenance and entrenchment of
Israel's occupation in Palestine.
A double Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital Sunday killed 20
people, including journalists and health workers.
On Friday, the Secretary-General of the United Nations called the
confirmed famine in Gaza City and surrounding areas a “failure of
humanity.”
Antonio Guterres described the crisis as a “man-made disaster”
after a UN-backed body raised parts of the territory to Phase 5 –
the highest level of food insecurity.
Plaid Cymru Foreign Affairs spokesperson, MP said:
"The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is shocking and entirely
preventable. Famine has been declared by UN experts, yet Israel
is failing to allow sufficient food and medical supplies to flow
into Gaza, putting hundreds of thousands of lives at risk.
"The UK Government must take meaningful action to prevent the
weaponisation of food, and should impose sanctions on the Israeli
government. Trade agreements providing preferential treatment to
Israel should be suspended, and the UK Government should waste no
time in halting the 2030 roadmap for closer UK-Israel ties,
banning goods from illegal settlements, and ending all arms
sales.
"We also call for targeted sanctions on individuals inciting
violence towards civilians and breaches of international law. The
UK has a moral and legal responsibility to ensure Israel complies
with international law, and urgent action is needed to prevent
further humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza."
