The group of senior lawyers have also called for sanctions to be imposed on Israel
More than 800 lawyers have called for the UK government to consider pushing for Israel’s suspension from the United Nations (UN) over its ongoing assault on Gaza. In a letter to the prime minister Keir Starmer, the lawyers, academics and senior judges said that this was in order for the UK to meet its ‘international legal obligations’, and also called for sanctions in Israel.
The letter calls for the UK government to use its position as a permanent members of the UN Security Council to consider initiating proceedings in to suspend Israel from the UN.
Opening their letter, the lawyers wrote: “Serious violations of international law are being committed and are further threatened by Israel in the [Occupied Palestinian Territories].”
The letter goes on to say “genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide occurring” and that “war crimes, crimes against humanity, and serious violations of international humanitarian law are being committed”.
The lawyers also went on to highlight rulings of the International Court of Justice in relation to Israel’s actions, saying: “Israel has been found by the International Court of Justice in July 2024 to be violating peremptory norms of international law across the entire oPt in denying the Palestinian people their right to self-determination and unlawfully annexing territory acquired by force.”
Later in their letter, the lawyers say that the UK government has failed to meet its legal obligations to “take all reasonable steps within their power to prevent and punish genocide”.
According to the Guardian, Alan Moses, a former chair of the bar of England and Wales said of the letter: “We, in the UK, cannot expect peace unless we fulfil our obligations under international law. That is what upholding the rule of law means. It is an exercise in futility for a government to say it upholds the rule of law, if it then does nothing to demonstrate it.”
Among the other calls in the letter is for the UK government to use all available means to “secure an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza”, push for Israel to lift its ban on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, and to execute arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
Image credit: Number 10 – Creative Commons
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