By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Last week, the UK’s Ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, told a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza that her government was calling for “an immediate ceasefire”.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told Israel’s President Isaac Herzog that “immediate steps” were required for a ceasefire in Gaza while reiterating his ongoing support for Tel Aviv’s “right to self-defence.”

“The Prime Minister said there must be immediate steps towards a ceasefire, so that hostages can be released and more humanitarian aid can get in for those in desperate need,” Starmer’s office said in a statement on Sunday.

The leaders met in Paris where they “reiterated their commitment to maintaining the historic friendship between Israel and the United Kingdom.”

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Starmer also “reiterated his ongoing support for Israel’s right to self-defence in accordance with international law. He was clear that there is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democratic state actions and Hamas, a terrorist organisation,” the statement said.

The pair “committed to continuing their close partnership in key areas of collaboration such as trade and investment.”

Last week, the UK’s Ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, told a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza that her government was calling for “an immediate ceasefire” and urged “both sides to accept the deal on the table, endorsed by this Council.”

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Rising Death Toll

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Israel is currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 39,363 Palestinians have been killed, and 90,923 wounded in the ongoing genocide. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

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Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(The Palestine Chronicle)