# United Kingdom and the Israel–Hamas war

Following the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on October 7th, 2023, the United Kingdom has provided Israel with extensive military and diplomatic support. In response to the 7 October attacks, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asserted that the United Kingdom "unequivocally" stands with Israel. The UK also issued an "unequivocal condemnation" of Palestinian militant group Hamas and deployed British Armed Forces personnel and assets to the Eastern Mediterranean to support Israel.
The United Kingdom solidly aligns itself with the United States throughout the conflict, which has also given significant support to Israel, abstaining from three ceasefire resolutions put forth by the United Nations Security Council calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. This stance has led the United Kingdom to face increasing isolation along with the United States and Israel as global calls for a ceasefire intensify. British ministers have openly endorsed Israel's forced evacuation orders and unlawful collective punishment of the Gaza Strip, without condemning any of Israel's policies despite the mounting death toll.
Israel used British-supplied weapons in the war. 15% of the components of each Israeli F-35 fighter jet are made by British companies, including BAE Systems.
According to the Campaign Against Arms Trade, the UK has granted arms export licences to Israel amounting to £574 million ($727 million) since 2008, including £42 million ($53 million) in 2022. Despite growing calls from various international organizations, over 600 members of the British legal profession, and three former senior British judges who argue that the UK's arms sales to Israel violate international law, Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on April 9th, 2024, that the United Kingdom will not cease its arms sales to Israel. International human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch have criticized the UK for its military and diplomatic support to Israel, arguing that such support could render the UK complicit in Israeli war crimes and genocide. As of April 2024, it is estimated that the conflict has resulted in the killing of over 34,000 Palestinians.

## Timeline
### October

* On October 8th, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United Kingdom "unequivocally" stands with Israel. He also announced "we will continue to provide Israel with every support that it needs as we stand steadfast with Israel, including its right to self defence to ensure that these attacks do not happen."
* On October 12th, the UK announced that it would send two Royal Navy supports ships, 100 Royal Marines and surveillance aircraft to the Eastern Mediterranean from October 13th to support Israel. This includes Poseidon P-8 aircraft and other planes tasked partly with preventing weapon transfers to Hezbollah in Lebanon from Iran.
* On October 18th, the UK abstained from a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for "humanitarian pauses" to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
* On October 19th, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrived in Tel Aviv in a two-day visit to "express solidarity with the Israeli people", as the relentless Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip has killed over 3,400 Palestinians.

### December

* On December 2nd, the UK Ministry of Defence announced that it would begin surveillance flights over Gaza “in support of the ongoing hostage rescue activity”.

### January

* UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron expressed concern about potential breaches of international law by Israel, specifically addressing the need for Israel to restore water supplies to Gaza. Cameron said in the same month that "Israel is acting in self-defence after the appalling attack on October 7" and denied that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. He dismissed South Africa's ICJ genocide case against Israel as "nonsense", saying that Israel is "a democracy, a country with the rule of law, a country with armed forces that are committed to obeying the rule of law".

### May

* On May 21st, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak criticized the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, calling the action "deeply unhelpful". He emphasized that there is no "moral equivalence" between Israel and Hamas and argued that this move would make "absolutely no difference" to achieving wider peace in the Middle East.

### June

* On June 8th, the Nuseirat rescue operation was aided by intelligence support from the United Kingdom.

## Weapons transfers

Israel used British-made weapons in the war. 15% of the components of each Israeli F-35 fighter aircraft are made by British companies.
Direct action was taken at arms factories in the United Kingdom that supplied arms to Israel. For instance, on 10 November 2023, trade unionists in Rochester, Kent, blocked the entrances to a BAE Systems factory, stating the facility manufactured military aircraft components used to bomb Gaza; and on 16 November, Palestine Action occupied a Leonardo factory in Southampton, stopping production.

## Views on the war by politicians
### Rishi Sunak

In the aftermath of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, UK Prime Minister RIshi Sunak pledged the United Kingdom's support for Israel and declared that Israel "has an absolute right to defend itself". Sunak backed calls for humanitarian pauses to allow for aid to be brought into the Gaza Strip during the Gaza conflict, although he initially rejected calls for a full ceasefire as he argued that this would only benefit Hamas. However, Sunak later condemned the high number of civilian casualties during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and called for a "sustainable ceasefire" in which all Israeli hostages are returned to Israel, attacks against Israel cease and humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza. His government supports the two-state solution as a resolution to the conflict.
Since the outbreak of the war, Sunak's government has pledged millions of pounds in humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza and pushed for the opening of the Rafah Border Crossing to allow for the evacuation of British nationals and the provision of aid to civilians. Sunak also deployed Royal Navy and Royal Air Force assets to patrol the eastern Mediterranean Sea with the stated purpose of supporting humanitarian efforts and monitoring threats to regional security. Sunak's administration has implemented sanctions against leading figures in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar, as well as imposing travel bans against Israeli settlers involved in violent activities in the West Bank.
Sunak reaffirmed his support for humanitarian pauses and an eventual ceasefire in the war in Gaza ahead of a debate on the subject on 21 February, but argued that an immediate ceasefire would not be successful and would not be in anyone's interest. The following day, the Scottish National Party tabled an opposition day amendment calling for an immediate ceasefire. Sunak's government tabled an amendment supporting an eventual ceasefire while emphasizing its support for Israel's right to self-defence and opposition to Hamas. However, in a break with Parliamentary convention, Speaker of the House Lindsay Hoyle chose to select a non-binding Labour Party amendment calling for an immediate ceasefire to be voted on first, which led to the government withdrawing its amendment and the Labour amendment being passed without a vote taking place. Amidst the ensuing controversy, Sunak described Hoyle's actions as "very concerning" but did not support calls from within the Conservative Party for the Speaker to be ousted.
The British government continued its policy of providing humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. On 21 February, the U.K. delivered aid to northern Gaza, inaccessible by land or sea, for the first time via air-drops by the Jordanian air force, having reached an arrangement with Jordan to deliver aid into Gaza on the U.K.'s behalf. On 25 February the government pledged a further £4.25 million in sexual and reproductive aid to Palestinian women, projected to reach around 1 in 5 women in Gaza.
When the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan announced that he would seek to charge Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu with war crimes, Sunak denounced the move as "unhelpful" and accused Khan of drawing a moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas.

### Keir Starmer

After the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which began the Israel–Hamas war, Labour leader and Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer expressed support for Israel, condemned Hamas' attack, and said, "This action by Hamas does nothing for Palestinians. And Israel must always have the right to defend her people." In an interview with LBC on 11 October 2023, Starmer was asked whether it would be appropriate for Israel to totally cut off power and water supplies to the Gaza Strip, with Starmer replying that "I think that Israel does have that right" and that "obviously everything should be done within international law". On 20 October, after criticism and resignations of Labour councillors, Starmer said that he only meant that Israel had the right to defend itself. Starmer had said that a ceasefire would only benefit Hamas for future attacks, instead calling for a humanitarian pause to allow aid to reach Gaza. As of 6 November 2023, 50 of Labour's councillors had resigned over the issue.
On 16 November 2023, Starmer suffered a major rebellion when 56 of his MPs (including ten frontbenchers) defied a three-line whip in voting for a Scottish National Party (SNP) motion proposed by Stephen Flynn to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Prior to the vote, Starmer stated that Labour MPs with positions in his Shadow Cabinet would be sacked if they voted in favour of the ceasefire vote. This then led to the loss of ten frontbenchers, including eight shadow ministers. In December 2023, Starmer followed Sunak in changing his stance by calling for a "sustainable ceasefire" in relation to Gaza, which also came after the Foreign Secretary David Cameron's same change in position. Starmer stated his support for a "two-stage" "two-state solution". The Labour Party under Starmer suspended several parliamentary candidates and MPs, including Graham Jones, Andy McDonald, Azhar Ali and Kate Osamor, for allegedly making anti-Semitic comments about Israel during the Israel-Hamas war, or for describing its conduct as genocide. On 18 February 2024, Starmer called for a "ceasefire that lasts" and said it must "happen now", having previously refused to call for a ceasefire.

### David Cameron

Foreign Secretary David Cameron visited the site of the Be'eri massacre, part of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, on 23 November to meet Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen. Afterwards, he met the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss among other urgent matters, facilitating further aid to Gaza. Cameron said in an interview with the BBC that he told Israeli officials that "they must abide by international humanitarian law" and that the number of Palestinian casualties was "too high". He also said that the "settler violence" against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is "completely unacceptable". Cameron backed a "sustainable ceasefire" in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war on 17 December, called for more aid to reach Gaza, and called for the Israeli government to "do more to discriminate sufficiently between terrorists and civilians". He, however, rejected calls for a "general and immediate ceasefire", differentiating this from the "sustainable ceasefire" he called for alongside German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock.
In January 2024, he expressed concern about potential breaches of international law by Israel, specifically addressing the need for Israel to restore water supplies to Gaza. Cameron said in the same month that "Israel is acting in self-defence after the appalling attack on October 7" and denied that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. He dismissed South Africa's ICJ genocide case against Israel as "nonsense", saying that Israel is "a democracy, a country with the rule of law, a country with armed forces that are committed to obeying the rule of law".
Cameron announced in late January that the government would consider recognising Palestine as a country, while also adding that would help to make a two-state solution "irreversible".
Cameron supported the February 2024 US Senate bill to allocate military aid to Ukraine Taiwan and Israel, saying that he did not want the West to "show weakness displayed against Vladimir Putin in 2008, when he invaded Georgia, or the uncertainty of the response in 2014, when he took Crimea and much of the Donbas—before coming back to cost us far more with his aggression in 2022". In the event the Senate bill failed to pass in the House of Representatives, where it was stalled by the GOP partisans of Donald Trump. At last a redrafted legislative package was put forward by Speaker Mike Johnson each of which passed the House with bipartisan support and large majorities on 20 April, but not before Cameron was snubbed by Johnson.
Iran attacked Israel in April 2024 with 301 drones and missiles, and the UK aided Israel to shoot them all down with RAF Eurofighter Typhoons. Cameron told LBC radio host Nick Ferrari that, were the UK to offer the same sort of support to Ukraine, it would represent a "dangerous escalation." In the same month, he became the first British foreign secretary to visit Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.

### Suella Braverman

Following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, then home secretary Suella Braverman said in a letter to chief constables in England and Wales: "I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as: 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' (...) in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence", adding that "Behaviours that are legitimate in some circumstances, for example the waving of a Palestinian flag, may not be legitimate such as when intended to glorify acts of terrorism".
She later described subsequent pro-Palestine marches during the Israel–Gaza war as "hate marches (...) chanting for the erasure of Israel from the map" containing a "large number of bad actors who are deliberately operating beneath the criminal threshold". In criticism of marches proposed to take place on Armistice Day, she cited "reports that some of Saturday's march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas" and compared it to marches in Northern Ireland. Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf called for her resignation and accused her of "fanning the flames of division". The Labour Party and some police officers said that Braverman's writing had led to far-right supporters attacking police on 11 November.
Braverman wrote an opinion piece that was published in The Times on 8 November which included a statement that there was "a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters" and were tougher on right-wing extremists than pro-Palestinian "mobs". The Guardian reported that the Prime Minister's office had asked for changes to be made to the article, but not all were implemented. Braverman was dismissed as Home Secretary in the cabinet reshuffle of 13 November 2023. According to The Guardian, the trigger for her sacking was her Times article. The Telegraph throws doubt on this view, reporting that David Cameron was offered the role of foreign secretary on 7 November 2023, the day before Braverman's Times article was published.

### George Galloway

In January 2024, George Galloway announced that he would stand in the Rochdale by-election the following month, for his party; the Workers Party of Britain. He was elected in a political upset after Azhar Ali, the Labour candidate, lost the support of his party due to comments made regarding the Hamas-led attack on Israel. Galloway won almost 40% of the vote and overturned a Labour majority of 9,668. The Israel–Hamas war dominated the campaign. In his election speech, Galloway said "Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza. You will pay a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Gaza, in the Gaza Strip".

## Politicians' positions

The official position of both the UK's main political parties, the ruling Conservatives and the opposition, Labour, were supportive of Israel. Keir Starmer, Labour's leader, supported Israel cutting off Gaza's water and power supply. Labour issued a warning to its MPs and council leaders that their politicians should not attend pro-Palestine rallies. Hundreds of Labour councillors wrote to Starmer urging him to call for a ceasefire, and dozens resigned from the party because they could not in conscience retain membership due to its position.
Conservative MP Paul Bristow wrote to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asking him to call for a ceasefire – an act for which his party sacked him from his government role as ministerial aide. Labour MP Imran Hussain resigned from his shadow minister role because he could not advocate for a ceasefire while in the position. Labour MP Apsana Begum visited a Palestine Solidarity Campaign stall, posing for a picture, at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. The leaders of Greater Manchester's 10 metropolitan district councils (all but one of which were led by Labour), the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, and Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Policing and Crime Kate Green, released a statement calling for a ceasefire. MP Andy McDonald spoke at a pro-Palestine rally; following the rally, Labour fired him because he had said "from the river to the sea".
Under pressure from party members to back a ceasefire, Starmer adapted the official Labour position to one critical of Israeli military bombardment but falling short of calling for a ceasefire. The Scottish National Party tabled a parliamentary motion calling for a casefire, saying in an official release, "It's time to call a spade a spade. To any neutral observer, war crimes are being committed by Israel in Gaza." No Conservative MPs voted for the motion and Labour said its MPs should abstain and, instead, vote on Labour's own motion calling for "humanitarian pauses" to the fighting. However, a number of its MPs, including frontbenchers, defied the order and voted for the ceasefire motion. Ten frontbenchers resigned from their position because they did not agree with the party line.
Ben Wallace, former-Secretary of State for Defence, stated Israel's war "tactics will fuel the conflict for another 50 years [and] are radicalising Muslim youth across the globe." Former-Chief of the Defense Staff David Richards called on David Cameron to demand a ceasefire.

## Protests

As a result of the Israel–Hamas war, nationwide protests occurred across the UK. These demonstrations occurred as part of a broader movement of war-related protests occurring around the world.
In the following weeks during Israel's counterattacks on Gaza, a number of pro-Palestine vigils, rallies and marches were held throughout the UK. On 9 October, the Stop the War Coalition and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) attended a demonstration in which hundreds marched through London's Kensington High Street and outside the embassy of Israel. Demands were made for an "Intifada revolution". PSC said in a statement that Hamas's attack had to be understood in the context of decades of Israeli occupation and, for an end to violence from Israel and Palestinians, the root cause, Israeli apartide, needed to end. Three people were arrested at the protest. The largest demonstrations were held in London, with people from across the country in attendance: thousands marched on 15 October 2023, 100,000 on 21 October, 70,000 on 28 October, 30,000 on 4 November and 300,000 on 11 November. The 11 November march was one of the largest in the UK in years, with some estimating it was the largest since the 2003 protest against the invasion of Iraq.
Hundreds of thousands demonstrated in other parts of the country: in Scotland, including in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Forres, Dumfries and Aberdeen; England – for instance, in Leeds, Blackburn, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Oxford, Swindon, Bristol, Norwich, Brighton, Southampton — Wales, including in Cardiff, Swansea, Abergavenny and Newport; and Northern Ireland, including in Lurgan, Armagh, Derry, and in Belfast, where a protest was held in front of the US consulate.
Sit-ins were held at train stations, such as London King's Cross, London Waterloo, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central and Bristol Temple Meads. In Bristol, school children demonstrated through a series of school strikes and, in east London, high school students boycotted an assembly attended by Labour MP Wes Streeting over his party's refusal to call for a ceasefire in Palestine. At the Luton Sixth Form College, the student council was suspended for staging a walk-out. Protesters removed the Israeli flag from the roof of Sheffield Town Hall and raised the Palestinian flag; South Yorkshire Police later said this incident was a racially aggravated public order offence and a hate crime. Protesters demonstrated at the Science Museum.
On 26 November 2023, between 50,000 and 60,000 people joined in a march in London to protest against a rise in hate crimes against Jews since the attack by Hamas terrorists on Israel on 7 October. On 14 January 2024, approximately 25,000 people attended a rally in support of Israel in Trafalgar Square, calling for the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

### Protests directed at politicians

Pro-Palestine protesters expressed their disagreement and disapproval of political parties' and politicians' positions on Israel's actions towards Palestinians. Protestors chanted "Shame on you" at Conservative MP Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations, as he was ushered through London Victoria shortly after a sit-in at the station. Protesters interrupted Yvette Cooper's speech, holding up "Ceasefire now" signs, during the King's Speech debate in the House of Commons as she spoke about the crisis in Israel. Protesters demonstrated outside Labour's London headquarters, chanting "Keir Starmer, you can't hide, you're endorsing genocide" and calling for the party to "change their policy ... and to demand an immediate ceasefire".
Following a parliamentary vote on a ceasefire, from which the majority of Labour MPs abstained, MPs' constituency offices were targeted. Jo Stevens, one of the abstaining MPs, had the word "Murderer" graffitied on her Cardiff Central office, and stickers and posters were stuck up saying the MP had "blood ... on her hands" and supported the killing of babies. Protesters demonstrated outside the office of Peter Kyle, Labour MP for Hove, who also abstained on the vote for a ceasefire. The protesters left a list of demands at the MP's office, including that the MP denounce Israel's "illegal use of excessive force", call for an immediate ceasefire and demand a stop to arms exports to Israel. Steve McCabe's Birmingham Selly Oak office was another outside which protesters gathered, this time calling for the MP's deselection. Hundreds of people marched through Labour leader Keir Starmer's constituency and protested outside his office, critical of his handling of the crisis. 100,000 signed a petition to expel Tzipi Hotovely. Protesters interrupted an event held by Angela Rayner, with one woman telling Rayner, "You call yourself a modern-day feminist, I don’t think so." In January 2024, the speech of Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters. In March 2024, a group of women protesting outside parliament shaved their heads in solidarity with the women of Gaza.
Amnesty International put up mock signs reading "Genocide Avenue" on the street outside the Israeli embassy in London. In April 2024, protestors rallied outside the Oxford Union which was hosting Nancy Pelosi; Pelosi's speech was reportedly drowned out by the sound of the protestors before being disrupted by two members of the audience with Palestinian flags who were later removed by police.

## Opinion polls

According to a December 2023 YouGov poll commissioned by Medical Aid for Palestinians and the Council for Arab-British Understanding, 71% of the British public believe that there should definitely (48%) or probably (23%) be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, while only 12% though that there should definitely not (6%) or probably not (6%) be an immediate ceasefire. Additionally, the poll found that 17% of the British public approve of the British government's handling of the conflict, while only 9% approve of the opposition Labour Party's handling of the conflict, revealing that there is "a total and utter lack of public confidence in the way both the UK government and the Labour Party have handled this".

## Pro-Israel lobby

Declassified UK revealed that 20% of Labour Party MPs have been received funding from pro-Israel groups or individuals, totaling £280,000 in donations.