PA Media

Israel's plans to take over Gaza City are "wrong" and "will only bring more bloodshed", Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The prime minister urged the Israeli government to immediately reconsider its decision"to further escalate its offensive in Gaza", after Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet approved the plans overnight by a majority vote.

Netanyahu had earlier said he wanted to take control of the whole of the Gaza strip but the approved plan focuses specifically on Gaza City, the largest city in the enclave.

The move has also prompted warnings from the army leadership and family members of hostages held in Gaza, who fear the offensive would endanger the 20 captives believed to still be alive.

In a statement, Sir Keir said:"This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages. It will only bring more bloodshed.

"Every day the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens and hostages taken by Hamas are being held in appalling and inhuman conditions.

"What we need is a ceasefire, a surge in humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages by Hamas and a negotiated solution. Hamas can play no part in the future of Gaza and must leave as well as disarm."

He added: "Our message is clear: a diplomatic solution is possible, but both parties must step away from the path of destruction."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the plans were "utterly abhorrent" and "it's increasingly clear [Netanyahu's] goal is ethnic cleansing".

"This plan will only serve to wreak more devastation on the lives of millions of Gazans - whose homes and communities have already been destroyed - while endangering the lives of those hostages still held by Hamas," he said.

"Rather than sitting on its hands and issuing strongly worded statements, the UK government needs to take decisive action.

"Keir Starmer needs to stop the export of all UK arms to Israel - today - and sanction Netanyahu and his cabinet."

Both the Green Party and the SNP have called on the PM to recall Parliament from its summer recess and sanction Netanyahu and his ministers, as well as stop all UK arms sales to Israel.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said:"Words of condemnation aren't anywhere near enough - if we have any hope of stopping this genocide strong actions are desperately needed, now."

Green Party foreign affairs spokeswoman Ellie Chowns said: "Netanyahu's brutal plan to take control of Gaza is yet another declaration of intent to commit war crimes and will lead to untold catastrophic civilian suffering. The UK must do far more than simply express disapproval."

Israel has denied allegations of genocide.

It comes as US Vice-President JD Vance met Foreign Secretary David Lammy at his official country residence of Chevening House, in Kent.

Vance and his family are in the UK for a private family holiday.

However, Lammy said they would also be discussing issues including the situation in Gaza and the war in Ukraine.

Last week, the UK announced it would recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes"substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza", including agreeing to a ceasefire and committing to a two-state solution.

The move was strongly criticised by Israel who said it"rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism".

It also puts the UK at odds with the US, which, like Israel, has suggested recognition would reward Hamas.

Asked what he made of the UK's announcement, Vance told reporters:"The United Kingdom's going to make its decision. We have no plans to recognise a Palestinian state.

"I don't know what it would mean to really recognise a Palestinian state, given the lack of functional government there."

However, he also stressed the two countries' shared goal of tackling the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

"We may have some disagreements about how exactly to accomplish that goal and we'll talk about that today," he added.

The United Nations has warned that a complete military takeover would risk"catastrophic consequences" for Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

The Israeli military currently controls about three-quarters of Gaza, and almost all of its 2.1 million citizens are situated in the quarter of the territory that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) do not control.

In a statement released on Friday morning, Netanyahu's office detailed a five-point plan for"defeating Hamas" and "concluding the war".

"The IDF will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones," it said.

The plan lists five objectives: disarming Hamas, returning all hostages, demilitarising the Gaza Strip, taking security control of the territory, and establishing"an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority".

Hamas accused Israel of pursuing"ethnic cleansing" and ignoring the fate of Israeli hostages by expanding the war.

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