The UK's Starmer government has totally failed to stop the Gaza genocide

The UK Prime Minister recently declared that "the suffering and starvation unfolding in Gaza is unspeakable and indefensible", and UK officials insist they're doing everything possible to secure a ceasefire and deliver humanitarian aid. These statements are empty reassurances that mask a shameful failure to act while a genocide continues unchecked. The claim that the UK is doing all it can is simply not true.

The UK government has so far utterly failed to prevent and punish Israel's genocide in Gaza. It has barely taken any effective action to pressure Israel into a ceasefire. Urging an apartheid regime to respect human rights while its leaders are wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and openly flaunting their criminality and anti-Palestinian racism, is not just totally pointless but could amount to complicity.

Volker Turk, the UN’s human rights chief, made this point recently when he warned, “countries that fail to use their leverage may be complicit in international crimes.” Keir Starmer and the UK government should take this seriously.

It’s now over two months since the UK promised to take “concrete action” if Israel did not change course. Yet, the crisis has deteriorated significantly, and starvation has intensified with time and hope quickly running out. If only Starmer and Lammy’s innumerable hollow platitudes could feed people, Palestinians in Gaza might not be starving.

As a state party to the Genocide Convention, the UK has a legal duty to prevent and punish genocide - a duty it is failing miserably to uphold. This failure is no accident. Experts in civilian protection from UN agencies and international NGOs have repeatedly outlined the UK’s responsibilities, yet the government continues to ignore them.

This isn’t only about the onslaught on occupied Gaza either - it’s clear to see the UK government is also deliberately avoiding the language and policies needed to confront some of the key root causes of this crisis: Israel's unlawful occupation of the Palestinian territory and system of apartheid against the Palestinian people.

The path to ending Israel’s illegal occupation has been clearly laid out. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an authoritative advisory opinion declaring that Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful, and that its discriminatory laws and policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amount to racial segregation and apartheid.

In response, on 18 September 2024, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution setting a firm 12-month deadline for Israel to withdraw from the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Yet the UK government has taken no meaningful action to uphold these decisions or meet its obligations under international law. Shockingly, it has not even issued its substantial response to the ICJ’s opinion - an abdication of responsibility that undermines the rule of law and will be read by many as signalling tacit approval of ongoing violations.

So, what could the UK do to increase pressure on Israel to secure that ceasefire?

Whilst the UK has called for a ceasefire and for more aid to get in, it has not demanded the complete withdrawal of Israeli military forces from the occupied Gaza Strip and the unconditional lifting of Israel's unlawful blockade, which would enable the unrestricted provision of humanitarian assistance.

They could increase the pressure on Israel by ending all trade or cooperation that contributes to the ongoing genocide, apartheid or the unlawful occupation. This must begin with an immediate ban on the transfer of all weapons and surveillance equipment and any form of military assistance to Israel.

They could end all trade agreements and cooperation deals with Israel, ban the import of goods from settlements and issue business advisories warning against trade and investments in companies connected to maintaining the occupation.

The fact that the UK still allows the import of goods originating from Israeli settlements in illegally occupied Palestinian land, is particularly egregious given it banned the import of goods from illegally occupied Crimea back in 2019. This cooperation totally undermines any claim to upholding international law. They should ban all Israeli settlement goods now.

The government could ban investments in companies and financial institutions contributing to maintaining Israel's unlawful occupation, including companies involved in weapons production, surveillance, and policing equipment or technology, settlement construction and infrastructure, as well as banks facilitating transactions for settlers and settlements.

They could adopt more targeted sanctions against those Israeli officials most implicated in international crimes. The number of individuals involved is no excuse for inaction – after all, the UK has imposed sanctions on numerous Russian officials and members of the former Syrian government and its criminal network.

Ministers who were sincere about increasing pressure on Israel's government would focus on supporting or delivering accountability for genocide, apartheid and military occupation.

They could take a firm stand in support of international justice by unequivocally backing the enforcement of ICC arrest warrants, speaking out against efforts - by states including the US and Israel - to undermine the Court, increasing resources for the ICC Office of the Prosecutor to expedite investigations, and launching a national-level structural inquiry into genocide and other international crimes committed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Meanwhile, civil society, including the NGO sector, must increase its pressure on the government to take these actions against Israel's apartheid regime. Just as polite requests won't work with Israel, they also aren’t working with this government - we have 12 months of evidence to show that.

What this looks like will vary from individual to individual, and organisation to organisation - but it is highly likely we will see more strategic litigation, more boycotts, sanctions and disinvestment campaigns, and more non-violent direct action, including against companies that enable the genocide, from across civil society.

These are just some of the essential actions required to pressure Israel into a sustainable ceasefire as a step to it ending its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Taking these actions would show the UK was genuinely 'using every lever' at its disposal to pressure Israeli leaders.

Kristyan Benedict is Amnesty International UK’s Crisis Response Manager.

Follow Kristyan on Twitter/X: @KreaseChan

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Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or its staff.