Britain has little influence over Israel’s war in Gaza

As the world focused its attention on a possible peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, it might have been easy to forget that the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas did not mark an end to the crisis in the Middle East. This morning, that ceasefire looked near collapse with Israel ramping up pressure on Hamas and reportedly killing 300 people (including Hamas deputy interior minister, Mahmoud Abu Wafah) overnight.

In addition to the resumption of air strikes, Israel has also sought to use other tactics to compel Hamas to release the remaining hostages, including restricting the flow of aid into the territory and cutting off supplies of electricity. These moves are proving particularly contentious and have prompted the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, to claim – for the first time – that Israel is breaching international law.

In response to a question by Rupa Huq in parliament yesterday, Lammy said ‘it has now been 15 days since aid got into Gaza’, describing the situation as ‘unacceptable, hugely alarming and very worrying’.