Top British diplomat says Israel must not expand annexation of occupied West Bank in retaliation
UK Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper says she has made clear to Israel that it must not retaliate to the recognition of Palestinian statehood by expanding its annexation of the occupied West Bank.
Cooper told the BBC before attending a conference at the UN in New York that the UK had “been clear to the Israeli government that they must not do that”. She said the decision to recognise a Palestinian state was “about the best way to respect the security for Israel as well as the security for Palestinians”.
Israeli government ministers, including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have threatened to impose sovereignty over the occupied West Bank in response to the moves by the UK, Canada and Australia to recognise a Palestinian state.
UK aims to whitewash ‘complicity’ in genocide with recognition of Palestine: CAGE International
UK advocacy group CAGE International says the country’s recognition of a Palestinian state has come decades too late and is an attempt to whitewash its complicity in the genocide in Gaza.
“The UK government’s recognition of Palestine comes 77 years too late, without any accountability for Britain’s own role in establishing the Israeli settler colonial entity,” said Head of Public Advocacy Anas Mustapha.
“After decades of supporting occupation and human rights abuses, and two years into a livestreamed genocide, the public will not be fooled by Western leaders now trying to disguise their own complicity, as if they have suddenly gained a conscience.”
He said Israel’s actions had “shattered any prospect of a workable two-state solution”. “The only lasting solution for peace is the dismantling of the Israeli apartheid regime and ensuring liberation, justice and dignity for the Palestinian people,” he said.
