Sir Keir Starmer has written to Labour councillors in a bid to reassure him over the party’s position on the Israel-Hamas conflict after a flurry of resignations over his stance.
In an apparent change of tack at PMQs, Sir Keir emphasised his sympathy with the plight of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and demanded humanitarian aid be allowed over the Egyptian border “immediately”.
It came as another Labour councillor quit the party over Mr Starmer’s comments on LBC last week suggesting that Israel has the “right” to withhold power and water from the Gaza strip.
Councillor Usman Bhaimia, who represents Barton and Tredworth ward on Gloucester City Council, said: “Where is the empathy for Palestinians who have lost their loved ones, their homes and their futures?”
Starmer said on Wednesday that he had spoken with charities working in Gaza and heard their accounts of the “harrowing humanitarian crisis”, telling the Commons: “The lights are going out and the innocent civilians of Gaza are terrified that they will die in the darkness.”
The Labour leader said medicines, food, fuel and water “must get into Gaza immediately”, adding: “This is an urgent situation and innocent Palestinians need to know that the world is not just simply watching but acting to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.”
Sir Keir said “international law must always be followed” by Israel, and added: “Hamas are not the Palestinian people and the Palestinian people are not Hamas.”
The Labour leader also wrote to councillors so they could “hear directly what our position is”, as he acknowledged that it had been a “difficult and distressing time”
Mr Starmer’s spokesman insisted that the Labour leader had remained “absolutely consistent” about stressing the importance that Israel adheres to international law ever since the crisis began with the Hamas terrorist attack last weekend.
At least seven councillors have quit in recent days. Sir Keir’s chief of staff, Sue Gray, and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy held urgent talks with Labour council bosses on Monday night amid fears over more resignations.
A source in the Labour leader’s office confirmed a meeting had been held with elected representatives where “emotion and strong views” were expressed – but said they did not recognise reports it had been “heated”.
“The meeting was one of a series with elected representatives, as you would imagine from a serious grown-up government-in-waiting on such a difficult and sensitive issue,” they said. “Support was offered, and our position made clear.”
Amna Abdullatif, a councillor in Manchester, said on Monday she had quit Labour after Sir Keir made “horrifying comments about Israel having the right to withhold fuel, water, food and electricity from the 2.2 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza, effectively endorsing a war crime”.
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It came after Shaista Aziz and Amar Latif, of Oxford City Council, said they were resigning from Labour for similar reasons. Jessie Hoskin, a councillor for Stroud District Council also resigned over the row.
Nottinghamshire councillors Nadia Farhat and Russell Whiting also quit over the leader’s Israel stance. Mr Whiting said Sir Keir’s comments on food and water for Gaza had been “reprehensible”.
The issue stemmed from the interview Sir Keir did with LBC Radio on 11 October in which he appeared to agree that Israel has “the right” to withhold energy and water from Gaza.
But the Labour spokesman said there were “overlapping questions and answers” and Sir Keir was speaking about Israel’s right to defend itself, rather than to cut off power and water.
The spokesman added: “What you saw was Keir say that everything had to be done in accordance with international law, that has been consistent in all of the interviews that he has done.”
Asked if Sir Keir was happy for councillors who disagreed with his stance to quit the party, the spokesman said: “I wouldn’t characterise it that way at all.”
Cleverly slams Labour MP after she accuses him of having ‘issues’ with immediate Gaza ceasefire
Meanwhile, 29 Labour MPs defied the leadership by backing an early day motion asking the government to “urgently press all parties to agree to an immediate de-escalation and cessation of hostilities”.
Former shadow cabinet minister Richard Burgon, secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group, said: “Preventing the death of any more civilians must be our top priority.”
Grilled on whether Labour would back a ceasefire, a spokesperson for Mr Starmer said Israel “has the right to defend itself and the right to act to retrieve hostages.”
Foreign secretary James Cleverly also rejected calls to push Israel for a ceasefire. “The truth is Hamas have no interest in a ceasefire,” he told the Commons. “They have never attempted to engage in a two-state solution.”
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was criticised for claiming that “Israeli air strikes have hit Al Ahli hospital in Gaza” despite lack of any verification that Israel was responsible.
The independent leftist MP, kicked out of the party over his response to an investigation in antisemitism in the party, tweeted: “Our leaders could have spoken up for peace. They chose to cheer on war instead.”
Rishi Sunak urged MPs not to “rush to judgment” on Wednesday as Israel and Hamas issued rival claims about the atrocity. The PM said: “Our intelligence services have been rapidly analysing the evidence to independently establish the facts. We are not in a position at this point to say more than that.”