The UK Government has concluded it has not found that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, a legal assessment that has provoked a fresh backlash within the Labour Party as Israel's president prepares for an official visit to London this week.
The position, set out in a letter published by the House of Commons international development committee, states that while the "high civilian casualties, including women and children, and the extensive destruction in Gaza, are utterly appalling," the crime of genocide under the Genocide Convention requires a specific intent "to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group," and "the Government has not concluded that Israel is acting with that intent." The publication of the letter comes days before Israeli President Isaac Herzog is expected to meet the Prime Minister in Downing Street.
The assessment has drawn criticism from across Labour's ranks and beyond. A number of Labour MPs said the UK should not be "rolling out the red carpet" for President Herzog while atrocities are being reported in Gaza. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Government of "genocide denial." Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, Sacha Deshmukh, said: "Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and Isaac Herzog is the head of state of the country carrying it out. The Prime Minister must not provide diplomatic cover for a state committing genocide."
Health Secretary Wes Streeting, a Cabinet minister and Labour MP, said President Herzog should face questions about allegations of war crimes when he visits. Speaking on Times Radio, he said the president "needs to answer the allegations of war crimes, of ethnic cleansing and of genocide that are being levelled at the government of Israel," and that he had heard "harrowing eyewitness testimony" from British doctors who had worked in Gaza.
Streeting condemned the October 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel as "barbaric, immoral and inhumane," but added that the scale of civilian casualties in Gaza could not be justified in response. "Not a single one of those atrocities and injustices committed on October 7 can possibly be answered with a level of civilian, innocent loss and suffering that we're seeing in Gaza," he said.
Labour tensions over the issue are unfolding against the backdrop of recent ministerial changes. The letter setting out the Government's position was drafted by David Lammy when he was foreign secretary, and was published this month by the international development committee. Lammy has since been moved to the role of Justice Secretary and has taken on additional responsibilities previously held by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who resigned following admission of an error over tax on a new flat.
Opposition within Labour is not limited to frontbench dissent. Bell Ribeiro-Addy, a backbench MP who announced her candidacy for the party’s deputy leadership, urged the Government to withdraw President Herzog’s invitation and impose sanctions instead. "The Government shouldn't be rolling out the red carpet for politicians who have cheered on the Gaza genocide," she said.
Downing Street said Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday night and discussed a range of issues, including the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. According to a No. 10 spokesman, both leaders agreed there must be "absolutely no role" for Hamas in the future governance of Palestine and discussed an urgent solution to end the suffering, starting with an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a significant increase in humanitarian aid.
The prime minister told Mr Abbas the UK would work with international partners on a long-term solution and that he would consider recognising a Palestinian state ahead of the United Nations General Assembly later this month should Israel not change course, the spokesman added.
The dispute reflects wider international debate about how to classify atrocities in Gaza and the thresholds for legal determinations of genocide. Humanitarian groups, some lawyers and campaigners have called for investigations and for political leaders to hold Israel accountable for actions they say have resulted in large numbers of civilian deaths and extensive destruction. Governments, including the UK in its published assessment, have stressed that the specific legal standard of intent required by the Genocide Convention is distinct from the moral and humanitarian judgment about civilian harm and destruction.
As President Herzog’s visit approaches, the UK faces mounting calls from rights organisations and parts of its own party to use the diplomatic encounter to press for answers about alleged violations of international law, even as ministers maintain the government’s formal legal position that it has not concluded Israel is committing genocide.