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Starmer spearheads outcry over Israel’s escalation of war in Gaza [1]

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Date: 2025-08-08 10:48:09+00:00

"The Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong, and we urge it to reconsider immediately," the British Prime Minister said in a statement. | Toby Melville/WPA Pool/Getty Images

Keir Starmer on Friday led international condemnation of Israel over a major military escalation in the Gaza Strip in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to take over Gaza City.

Germany suspended arms exports to Israel that could be used in Gaza, Spain “strongly” condemned the stepped-up Israeli offensive, and the United Nations called for an immediate halt to the Israeli operation.



“The Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong, and we urge it to reconsider immediately,” the British prime minister said in a statement early Friday. “This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages. It will only bring more bloodshed,” he said.



Britain and its allies are working on a long-term plan to secure peace in the region as part of a two-state solution, but “without both sides engaging in good faith in negotiations, that prospect is vanishing before our eyes,” the U.K. leader said.



Turkey also lambasted Netanyahu’s decision, which was approved by Israel’s security cabinet early Friday. Ankara called on Israel to stop its plans.



“Every step taken by the fundamentalist Netanyahu government to continue the genocide against the Palestinians and expand the occupation deals a heavy blow to international peace and security; increasing regional instability and deepening the humanitarian crisis,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said.



United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk said Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip “must be immediately halted.” Any further escalation of the conflict “will result in more massive forced displacement, more killing, more unbearable suffering, senseless destruction and atrocity crimes,” he said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on Friday that Berlin will suspend arms shipments to Israel that could be used in the Gaza Strip, marking his government’s clearest shift yet in response to Israel’s escalating military campaign.

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[1] Url: https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-keir-starmer-israel-gaza-city-netanyahu-plan/

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