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jeremy corbyn
Corbyn-Led Tribunal Slams UK 'Complicity' in Israeli Gaza Atrocities
"Just like Iraq, the government is doing everything it can to protect itself from scrutiny," said Corbyn.
Sep 05, 2025
A tribunal led by former Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn on Thursday accused the UK of being complicit in Israel-committed atrocities in Gaza.
As reported by Al Jazeera, Corbyn led an unofficial inquiry into how the UK government's support of Israel has aided the country in carrying out war crimes in Gaza in a conflict that so far has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians.
The tribunal heard from Nick Maynard, a British doctor who has treated wounded civilians in Gaza's Nasser Hospital, and who described seeing teenage boys who appeared to have been deliberately shot in the genitals by Israeli soldiers.
"The pattern of the targeting of specific body parts was something we all recognized," said Maynard, who described such actions "as target practice by the Israeli soldiers."
Maynard also described his attempts to treat a 7-month-old baby in the hospital who eventually died of malnutrition.
"You could see every rib, every bone in her body," he said. "She was being fed with water mixed with sugar. We had completely run out of formula feed."
Per Middle East Eye, the inquiry also featured testimony from Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on occupied Palestine, who said that the UK and other Western nations deserved condemnation for continuing to supply weapons and resources to Israel even as its actions have created a famine inside of Gaza.
"States, including the United Kingdom, have been on notice for decades of their legal obligations," she told the panel. "This failure to abide by long-standing international obligations might be sufficient to establish a criminal case for complicity in the actions of Israel."
Corbyn, who is leading the panel alongside Queen Mary College professor of human rights law Neve Gordon and University of Kent lecturer on international law Shahd Hammouri, likened the UK government's current actions to actions it took under former Prime Minister Tony Blair during the Iraq War.
"Just like Iraq, the government is doing everything it can to protect itself from scrutiny," said Corbyn. "Just like Iraq, it will not succeed in its attempts to suffocate the truth. We will uncover the full scale of British complicity in genocide—and we will bring about justice for the people of Palestine."
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'Genocide Is a Red Line': Thousands Encircle UK Parliament to Demand Sanctions on Israel
"U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer admitted this week that the situation in Gaza is 'getting worse by the day' but has yet to match these words with concrete actions."
Jun 04, 2025
Thousands of people formed a "Red Line for Palestine" encircling the U.K. Parliament in Westminster on Wednesday to demand an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel for its ongoing genocidal violence against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The protesters are also calling for the reinstatement of U.K. aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the government's support for International Criminal Court investigations, and an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza, according to a statement from organizers.
The red line protest during Parliament's "question time" was organized by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Muslim Association of Britain, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Stop the War Coalition.
"The U.S.-backed aid distribution in Gaza has shut down operations today, citing 'security risks,'" organizers noted. "This follows widespread criticism over its ties to Israel and alleged downplaying of civilian casualties. Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer admitted this week that the situation in Gaza is 'getting worse by the day' but has yet to match these words with concrete actions."
While people in the streets took aim at Starmer and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who are both part of the Labour Party, some members of Parliament joined the protest.
Scottish MP Brian Leishman, a member of Labour's Socialist Campaign Group, said on social media that he was "proud to stand with fellow MPs and the thousands of people that joined the Red Line for Palestine protest outside Parliament today calling for an end to genocide and for countries to stop arming Israel."
MP Colum Eastwood, former leader of Northern Ireland's Social Democratic and Labour Party, similarly said that he was "proud" to join the protest, while MP Zack Polansky, a candidate to lead the Green Party, said he was "proud to stand with so many fellow Jewish people against the genocide."
Party MP Ellie Chowns described her experience participating in the demonstration as "incredibly moving and powerful," while Independent MP Shockat Adam declared: "Starving children is a red line. Genocide is a red line. When humanity is on the line, silence cannot be the response."
Independent MP Adnan Hussain said he was "honored to have joined" the action and shared footage in which he appeared with MP Jeremy Corbyn, a fellow Independent who used to be Labour's leader. In the Sky News clip, Corbyn talked about the bill he's introducing to demand an independent public inquiry into the U.K.'s "complicity with active genocide" in Gaza.
"Many of us remain disgusted by the continued supply of components for the F-35 fighter jet program," Corbyn told The New Arab. "I am shocked the government openly admits to making 'exceptions' to its partial suspension. Does this breach its legal obligations to prevent genocide? One thing is clear: This government still supplies weapons to a state whose leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity."
The Hague-based tribunal in November issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and a Hamas leader who has since been declared dead. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its annihilation of Gaza.
Polling shows Israel's destruction of Gaza is unpopular with the British public. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign not only was an organizer of Wednesday's protest but also commissioned a poll from Opinium Research and released the results on Wednesday. The survey, conducted from May 30 to June 2, found that 57% of Brits believe the U.K. should impose a full arms embargo.
The survey also found that 54% support sanctioning Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, 53% think Israel should be expelled from the U.N., and 50% support boycotting Israeli products in supermarkets. Middle East Eye reported that "the new poll comes after a similar survey showed public support for Israel in European countries had fallen to its lowest recorded level."
The polling also comes as the official casualty counts in Gaza—which experts warn are likely significant underestimates—climbed to 54,607 Palestinians killed and 125,341 wounded, with most of the enclave's more than 2 million struggling to access food, water, shelter, and healthcare in the face of Israel's bombings and blockade of humanitarian aid.
U.K. organizers plan to follow Wednesday's red line action with a National March for Palestine on Saturday, June 21.
"Israel's attacks on Gaza and the West Bank are intensifying. Their starvation policy continues," says the march's webpage. "The U.K. government has at last accepted that Israel's actions are unconscionable. Now they must act—words are not enough."
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'Genocide Alert!' Israel Slammed for Cutting Off Power to Gaza Water Plant
One expert noted that "this collective punishment of civilians" violates the Geneva Conventions as well as a preliminary injunction from the International Court of Justice.
Mar 10, 2025
Outrage over the Israeli government's decision to cut off electricity to a water treatment plant in the decimated Gaza Strip mounted on Monday.
As Common Dreams reported Sunday, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said that he "signed an order for the immediate halt of electricity to the Gaza Strip" as part of a policy to use "all of the tools that are at our disposal to ensure the return of all the hostages" taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
The Times of Israel noted that the new move by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government "was mainly expected to affect a single desalination plant, the only facility in the strip still running on a power line supplied from Israel."
Responding on social media Monday, the Peace & Justice Project—founded by Jeremy Corbyn, an Independent member of the U.K. Parliament—condemned the cutoff as Israel's "latest act of genocidal collective punishment against the Palestinian people."
"This latest despicable act must be condemned by all governments and Israel must be sanctioned," the group added.
Also speaking out on social media, Francesca Albanese, United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, declared, "GENOCIDE ALERT!"
"Israel cutting off electricity supplies to Gaza means, among others, no functioning desalination stations, ergo: no clean water," Albanese said. "STILL NO SANCTION/NO ARMS EMBARGO against Israel means, among others, AIDING AND ASSISTING Israel in the commission of one of the most preventable genocides of our history."
Unconscionable, and immoral: Israel stops electricity supply to Gaza to ratchet up pressure on Hamas | The Times of Israel www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...
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— Timothy McBride ( @mcbridetd.bsky.social) March 9, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, called the move "a desperate attempt to pressure our people and their resistance through cheap and unacceptable blackmail tactics," according to The Times of Israel.
He tied the decision to Israel halting all humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave last week, saying that "we strongly condemn the occupation's decision to cut off electricity to Gaza, after depriving it of food, medicine, and water."
Clean water has been a key issue in Gaza since October 2023. Oxfam said last July that Israel had systematically reduced the water available by 94%, with just 4.74 liters per resident obtainable each day—less than a third of the recommended minimum amount in emergencies.
A Human Rights Watch report from December accuses Israel of "extermination and acts of genocide" in Gaza "by intentionally depriving Palestinian civilians there of adequate access to water, most likely resulting in thousands of deaths."
Netanyahu said that last week's block on aid was done "in full coordination" with U.S. President Donald Trump, who proposed an American takeover of Gaza—a plan that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Sunday "is taking shape."
Israel and Hamas reached a fragile three-part cease-fire and hostage-release deal in January. Stage one expired on March 1, and negotiators have not yet agreed to terms for the second phase, but talks are being held in Qatar this week.
"Food cut off, almost all electricity cut off, with the remaining energy now cut off too, in order to cut off water supply. This is a 'cease-fire' Israel-style," said Nick Dearden, director of the U.K.-based group Global Justice Now. "Barbaric collective punishment. Stop all weapons, suspend trade deals, economic sanctions now."
Since we made this statement Israel has announced it is cutting off electricity to Gaza. We say again: the threat of starvation and denial of vital humanitarian aid and services should never be used as a tool of war or a bargaining chip in negotiations. www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...
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— Quakers in Britain ( @quaker.org.uk) March 10, 2025 at 11:51 AM
University of Michigan professor Juan Cole wrote Monday on his website, Informed Comment, that "the Israeli government is cutting Palestinian civilians in Gaza off from staples as a means of pressuring Hamas to release all Israeli hostages with no quid pro quo so that Netanyahu can start bombing again."
"This collective punishment of civilians violates the Geneva Convention[s] and other elements of internationally agreed on laws of war to which Israel is signatory," noted Cole. "It also violates the preliminary injunction of the International Court of Justice, in which Israel also has membership."
Israel faces an ongoing genocide case at the Hague-based court over its deadly blockade and assault of Gaza—assisted by billions of dollars in U.S. weapons. Like his predecessor, Trump's administration is working to send even more arms to Israel.
"Cutting off humanitarian aid to millions of civilians is a war crime. That is exactly what the extremist Netanyahu government is doing now to Palestinians in Gaza," U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Monday. "I've introduced resolutions to block billions in offensive arms sales to Israel and will demand votes on these bills."
This article has been updated with comment from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
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