London – Saba:
Dozens of Labour Party MPs in the British Parliament have called on their government to "immediately recognize" the state of Palestine and take steps to prevent Israel from displacing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
This came in a letter signed by nearly 60 Labour MPs and addressed to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the contents of which were published by The Guardian on Saturday.
In the letter, the MPs urged the British government to "take immediate steps" to prevent the Israeli government from implementing its forced displacement plan in Rafah, southern Gaza, and to move forward with "recognizing a Palestinian state without delay," according to Anadolu Agency.
They pointed out that their letter followed Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s announcement of plans to "forcibly relocate all Palestinians in Gaza to a camp set up in the ruins of Rafah, without allowing them to leave," before later deporting them.
The British MPs argued that Gallant’s declared plans amount to "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza.
They wrote: "With great urgency and concern, we write to you regarding the Israeli Defense Minister’s announcement last Monday of his plans to forcibly transfer all Palestinian civilians in Gaza to a camp in the devastated city of Rafah without allowing them to leave."
The letter cited prominent Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, who described the plan as an "operational proposal to commit crimes against humanity."
Quoting Sfard, they noted that the plan involves "transferring Gaza’s population to the southern end of the Strip as a prelude to their deportation outside Gaza."
Last Monday, Gallant revealed details of a new plan to establish what he called a "humanitarian city" of tents in the ruins of Rafah, involving the relocation of 600,000 Palestinians in a first phase after strict security screening—with no permission to leave afterward.
According to Israel’s official broadcasting authority, the proposed camp will be set up between the Philadelphi and Muraj corridors in southern Gaza. In the next phase, all Gazans would be gathered there before mechanisms are activated to encourage what it falsely claims is "voluntary migration."
In their letter, the MPs also warned of the consequences of Britain’s refusal to recognize a Palestinian state.
This is the second letter in recent weeks in which Labour MPs have urged ministers to recognize Palestine, but the first time they have publicly disclosed their names, The Guardian reported.
With American and European support, the Israeli occupation army has continued to commit genocidal crimes in Gaza since October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 57,882 Palestinian civilians—mostly children and women—and injuring 138,095 others as of today. The toll is not final, as thousands remain trapped under rubble or in the streets, unreachable by rescue teams.
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