Dua Lipa, Gary Lineker join 300 public figures urging UK to end Israel arms sales

Pop star Dua Lipa joined over 300 UK celebrities in signing an open letter on Thursday, urging Britain to halt arms sales to Israel, following similar pleas from lawyers and writers.

Actors, musicians, activists and other public figures wrote the letter calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to "end the UK's complicity in the horrors in Gaza".

British-Albanian pop sensation Dua Lipa has been vocal about the war in Gaza and last year criticised Israel's offensive as a "genocide".

Israel has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide, claiming its campaign intends to crush Hamas following the 7 October attacks.

Other signatories include actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, and Riz Ahmed, as well as musicians Paloma Faith, Annie Lennox, and Massive Attack.

"You can't call it 'intolerable' and keep sending arms," read the letter to Labour leader Starmer, organised by Choose Love, a UK-based humanitarian aid and refugee advocacy charity.

Sports broadcaster Gary Lineker, who stepped down from his role at the BBC after a social media post that contained anti-Semitic imagery, also signed the letter.

Signatories urged the UK to ensure "full humanitarian access across Gaza", broker an "immediate and permanent ceasefire", and "immediately suspend" all arms sales to Israel.

"The children of Gaza cannot wait another minute. Prime Minister, what will you choose? Complicity in war crimes, or the courage to act?", the letter continued.

Earlier this month, Starmer slammed Israel's "egregious" renewed military offensive in Gaza and promised to take "further concrete actions" if it did not stop, without detailing what the actions could be.

Last September, the UK government suspended 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel, saying there was a "clear risk" they could be used to breach humanitarian law.

Global outrage has grown after Israel ended a ceasefire in March and stepped up military operations this month, killing thousands of people in a span of two months, according to figures by the Gaza health ministry.

The humanitarian situation has also sparked alarm and fears of starvation after a two-month blockade on aid entering the devastated territory.

Over 800 UK lawyers, including Supreme Court justices, and some 380 British and Irish writers warned of Israel committing a "genocide" in Gaza in open letters this week.

Israel's military offensive launched in response has killed over 54,000, mostly civilians, in Gaza according to its health ministry, not including the 11,000 missing presumed dead, as well as displacing nearly the entire population and ravaging swathes of the besieged strip.