Keir Starmer defies Labour MPs by refusing to back Gaza ceasefire as he warns it would leave Hamas able to repeat slaughter of Jews in Israel – but he says fighting must end as soon as possible as ‘bullets and bombs’ won’t bring peace

Sir Keir Starmer today defied growing calls from Labour MPs for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The Labour leader, who is facing one of the biggest crises of his leadership over the conflict in Gaza, pushed back at intense pressure on him to change his stance.

In a speech in central London, Sir Keir said he understood the demands for a ceasefire among Labour MPs, councillors and supporters.

But he insisted this was not the ‘correct position’ for his party to take as he warned a ceasefire would leave Hamas with the ‘infrastructure and capabilities’ to repeat attacks on Israel.

Sir Keir said the terror group would be ’emboldened’ by a ceasefire and would ‘start preparing for future violence immediately’.

Yet the Labour leader also used his speech to go further than he has before in his criticism of Israel’s actions in the wake of Hamas’s horror attacks on 7 October.

He warned the right to self-defence is ‘fundamental, but it is not a blank cheque’ as he said the supply of water, medicines, electricity and fuel to citizens in Gaza ‘cannot be blocked by Israel’.

Sir Keir added an end to fighting must come ‘as quickly as possible’ because peace in the Middle East cannot be delivered by ‘bombs and bullets’.

Sir Keir Starmer defied growing calls from Labour MPs for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas

Protesters gathered outside the central London venue where the Labour leader delivered his speech. They chanted: ‘Keir Starmer shame on you, Palestinians are humans too’

Sir Keir made his speech this morning amid growing calls from senior party figures – including the Labour mayors of London and Greater Manchester, Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham, and an increasing number of his frontbenchers – for a permanent ceasefire.

Protesters gathered outside the central London venue where they Labour leader delivered his address and chanted: ‘Keir Starmer shame on you, Palestinians are humans too.’

They added: ‘Ceasefire now, ceasefire now.’

Sir Keir was also seen being shielded by police as he exited the Chatham House venue and got into a black 4×4 vehicle as he was faced by further chants by protesters.

In his address at the thinktank, Sir Keir said the Hamas attacks earlier this month had seen Israel suffer ‘terrorism on a scale and brutality that few countries have ever experienced’.

He described the 7 October attacks as ‘the biggest slaughter of Jews – and that is why they were killed, do not doubt that – since the Holocaust’.

‘Men, women, children, babies murdered, mutilated and tortured by the terrorists of Hamas,’ the Labour leader added.

‘Over 200 hostages, including British citizens, taken back into Gaza.’

But he also said there was a ‘humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza which again, plays out on a previously unimaginable scale’.

‘Thousands of innocent Palestinians dead, displaced, desperate for food and water, reduced to drinking contaminated filth,’ Sir Keir continued.

‘Hiding out in hospitals for shelter whilst in those same buildings, babies lie in incubators that could turn off at any moment.’

Sir Keir said his reluctance to call for a ceasefire was because it ‘always freezes any conflict in the state where it currently lies’.

‘That would leave Hamas with the infrastructure and the capability to carry out the sort of attack we saw on 7 October,’ he said.

‘Attacks that are still ongoing. Hostages who should be released – still held. Hamas would be emboldened and start preparing for future violence immediately.’

The Labour leader reiterated his support – shared by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Britain’s allies such as the US – for humanitarian ‘pauses’ in the fighting.

‘In fact it is – at this moment– the only credible approach that has any chance of achieving what we all want to see in Gaza – the urgent alleviation of Palestinian suffering,’ Sir Keir said.

‘Aid distributed quickly. Space to get hostages out.

‘That is why it is also the position shared by our major allies, in the US and the EU and I urge all parties to heed its call.’

The Labour leader will make a speech this morning calling on global leaders to work towards restoring peace in the Middle East amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

But Sir Keir will defend Labour’s calls for only a limited humanitarian pause to allow Palestinians to flee the fighting, and for aid to be distributed.

Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald has meanwhile been suspended by Labour, after what a party spokesman said were ‘deeply offensive’ remarks made at a speech during a pro-Palestine rally

Labour shadow minister Sir Chris Bryant had told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: earlier: ‘How could you have a ceasefire with Hamas who have no intention of laying down their weapons and haven’t even said that they will return the hostages?’

Sir Keir has stopped short of taking disciplinary action against Labour frontbenchers calling for a ceasefire – in contrast to Tory leader Rishi Sunak who sacked ministerial aide Paul Bristow for demanding an end to the bloody fighting.

Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a ceasefire in Gaza, declaring a ‘time for war’ amid continuing calls for a humanitarian pause in the conflict from the UK and other allies.

Mr Sunak has been among those pressing for a pause in the fighting to allow Palestinians to flee Gaza and for aid to be distributed.

Similar appeals have been made by the US and other countries, but Mr Netanyahu told Israel’s allies it would not heed calls for ceasefire.

‘The Bible says that there is a time for peace and a time for war. This is a time for war,’ Israel’s PM said in a press conference last night, claiming that laying down arms would be akin to America doing the same after the 9/11 attacks.

Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald has meanwhile been suspended by Labour, after what a party spokesman said were ‘deeply offensive’ remarks made at a speech during a pro-Palestine rally.

Mr McDonald said his reference to the phrase ‘between the river and the sea’ was part of a ‘heartfelt plea’ for peace in the region.

A slogan used by pro-Palestinian demonstrators, ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, has been described as antisemitic by critics, with Home Secretary Suella Braverman claiming that it is ‘widely understood’ to call for the destruction of Israel.

Mr McDonald, now sitting as an independent, said he would fully co-operate with the investigation into his suspension and trusted ‘that the whip will be restored’.

Sir Chris admitted people in his party are ‘being pulled in many different directions’ over the conflict in Israel and Gaza.

The shadow minister for creative industries and digital told Sky News that Sir Keir would be calling in his speech for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to be brought ‘back on track’.

He added that it is incumbent on all politicians ‘to be very careful about their language’ in regard to the conflict.

Sir Chris earlier told Times Radio that he will personally not use the controversial phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ that has been heard at protests.

Writing for the Independent , Mr Burnham, who has long been linked with a pitch for Sir Keir’s job, denied being ‘opportunistic’, saying he had learned from the aftermath of terror attacks in New York in 2001, London in 2005 and Manchester in 2017.

He joined his London counterpart Sadiq Khan (right)and Scottish party leader Anas Sawar (left) in supporting an end to the fighting that has claimed thousands of lives.

In a statement also signed by deputy mayor Kate Green – a former Labour frontbencher – and 10 leaders of Manchester councils, Mr Burnham called for a ceasefire by both sides.

The Prime Minister removed Peterborough MP Paul Bristow from his Government role for rebelling against his stance on the Middle East crisis

Mr Bristow, who was elected MP for Peterborough at the 2019 general election, wrote on Facebook last week: ‘We need a ceasefire.’

Humanitarian pauses typically last for short periods of time with the aim of providing aid and support rather than achieving long-term political solutions, according to the United Nations.

Ceasefires are intended to be long-term and usually seek to allow parties to engage in talks, including the possibility of reaching a permanent political settlement.

Labour shadow ministers Yasmin Qureshi, Jess Phillips, and Imran Hussain are among the figures who have joined calls for an immediate end to the fighting.

Sir Keir has also been at odds over his stance on Israel with devolved mayors like Mr Burnham and Mr Khan, and with Labour-led councils across England.

Yesterday Mr Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, warned Sir Keir not to label senior Labour politicians ‘disloyal’.

Writing for the Independent, Mr Burnham, who has long been linked with a pitch for Sir Keir’s job, denied being ‘opportunistic’, saying he had learned from the aftermath of terror attacks in New York in 2001, London in 2005 and Manchester in 2017.

‘In times like this, it is simply not possible quickly to arrive at a clear party line,’ he said.

‘MPs’ feelings will change daily as they react to events, balance views of constituents and try to formulate a settled view. Let’s not brand them as disloyal or as if they don’t care about innocent lives.’

The two mayors, Mr Burnham and Mr Khan, and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar are among those who have broken ranks to call for an end to fighting. 

There were also claims over the weekend that shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood is privately unhappy.

Dozens of Labour councillors have also resigned in protest at Sir Keir’s stance on the Gaza crisis.

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