{"id":212232,"date":"2025-09-09T07:23:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T07:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212232\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T07:23:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T07:23:19","slug":"israel-not-committing-genocide-in-gaza-but-casualties-and-destruction-are-utterly-appalling-says-uk-government-world-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212232\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel not committing genocide in Gaza, but casualties and destruction are ‘utterly appalling’, says UK government | World News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK government has concluded that Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza but “must do much more” to prevent and alleviate the suffering.<\/p>\n

Britain’s position was clarified by David Lammy<\/a><\/strong>, as foreign secretary until a few days ago, in response to questions from the chair of the International Development Committee, Sarah Champion.<\/p>\n

In a letter, dated 1 September, he wrote that “the crime of genocide occurs only where there is specific ‘intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.’<\/p>\n

“The government has not concluded that Israel is acting with that intent.”<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

Image:
\n David Lammy has confirmed the government’s position on Israel. Pic: PA<\/p>\n

Previously, the government’s position had been that it was for an international court to decide if Israel<\/a><\/strong> was committing genocide.<\/p>\n

Israel has strongly denied that its actions in Gaza<\/a><\/strong> amount to genocide, but is being challenged on the issue in a case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.<\/p>\n

The world’s leading association of genocide scholars, as well as several Israeli human rights organisations, have already accused the country of genocide<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mr Lammy, who was replaced by Yvette Cooper<\/a><\/strong> as foreign secretary during Sir Keir Starmer’s recent reshuffle<\/a><\/strong>, also criticised the “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in the region.<\/p>\n

Lammy: Destruction is ‘utterly appalling’<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The high civilian casualties, including women and children, and the extensive destruction in Gaza, are utterly appalling,” he wrote.<\/p>\n

“Israel must do much more to prevent and alleviate the suffering that this conflict is causing.”<\/p>\n

Israel struck and destroyed another high-rise building in Gaza City on Monday after warning residents to evacuate.<\/p>\n

The military said it was targeting Hamas<\/a><\/strong> observation posts and bombs placed around the 12-story office building, though has not provided evidence for this claim.<\/p>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told residents they should leave the city immediately.<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Palestinians inspect the site of a collapsed building in Gaza City after an Israeli strike on Monday. Pic: Reuters<\/p>\n

On Monday, a flotilla aiming to transport humanitarian aid to Gaza claimed one of its boats was struck by a drone on Tuesday in Tunisian waters, suffering fire damage.<\/p>\n

None of the passengers or crew on the Portuguese-flagged vessel were hurt, the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) said in a statement.<\/p>\n

But a spokesperson for Tunisia’s National Guard rejected GSF’s reports of a drone strike and told Mosaique FM radio that an initial inspection indicated the explosion originated inside the vessel.<\/p>\n

Israel has imposed a naval blockade on the coastal enclave since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, saying it aims to stop weapons from reaching the militant group.<\/p>\n

Israeli weapons ban ‘antisemitic’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Spain<\/a><\/strong> has banned ships and aircraft carrying weapons to Israel from calling at Spanish ports or entering its airspace, because of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The measures were described as antisemitic by Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government also said it would not allow anyone who has participated directly in “genocide” in Gaza to enter Spain.<\/p>\n

Read more from Sky News:
Jerusalem shooting will exacerbate tensions<\/a>
Houthi drone attack on Israel airport<\/a>
Lush shuts ‘in solidarity with Gaza’<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Israel's<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called Spain’s weapons ban ‘antisemitic’. File pic: Reuters<\/p>\n

\"Follow<\/p>\n

Follow The World<\/p>\n

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday<\/p>\n

Tap to follow<\/a><\/p>\n

Deadly bus stop shooting<\/strong><\/p>\n

Israel suffered its deadliest shooting since October 2024 on Monday, when gunmen opened fire at a bus stop<\/a><\/strong> in Jerusalem, killing six people and wounding another 12.<\/p>\n

An Israeli soldier and civilians who were at the scene shot and killed the two attackers, said police, who later arrested a third person.<\/p>\n

Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency said the two attackers, aged 20 and 21, were Palestinians from the West Bank with no prior arrests.<\/p>\n

The militant group Hamas did not say it was behind the attack but called it a “natural response to the occupation’s crimes against our people”.<\/p>\n

\"Six<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Six people died when gunmen opened fire at a bus stop in Jerusalem. Pic: Reuters<\/p>\n

Starmer holds talks with Abbas<\/strong><\/p>\n

President Mahmoud Abbas<\/a><\/strong>, head of the Palestinian Authority (PA), condemned “any targeting of Palestinian and Israeli civilians” and “denounced all forms of violence and terrorism, regardless of their source,” according to a statement from his office.<\/p>\n

Mr Abbas visited Downing Street on Monday evening for discussions with Sir Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n

\"Keir<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Keir Starmer held talks with Mahmoud Abbas at Downing Street. Pic: PA<\/p>\n

Following the talks, the prime minister’s spokesperson said they spoke about “the intolerable situation in Gaza” and how to secure “enduring peace and stability for both Palestinians and Israelis”.<\/p>\n

“The president welcomed the prime minister’s pledge to recognising (sic) a Palestinian state<\/a><\/strong> ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting later this month, unless Israel changes its course,” the statement added.<\/p>\n

Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel, is also set for meetings with the UK government in the next few days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK government has concluded that Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza but “must do much more”…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":212233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[99,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-212232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115173143748312793","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}