UK cannot sit silent as Israel commits genocide in Gaza: Scotland's top party
Iran Press TV
Saturday, 23 August 2025 6:57 PM
Scotland's largest political party has urged the British government to take urgent action to halt the genocide in Gaza.
Brendan O'Hara, spokesman for the Scottish National Party (SNP), wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer that his "Labour Government cannot sit silent" as Israeli forces continue their genocidal campaign in Gaza.
O'Hara outlined several steps the UK must take, including a full arms embargo on Israel, immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, formally joining the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case on genocide, and imposing economic sanctions on the Israeli regime.
He also called on the UK to commit to enforcing international arrest warrants against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet. He called for the launch of a naval operation to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip.
"Failure to do so is a breach of your legal obligations," O'Hara said.
Meanwhile, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie pressed both the UK and Scottish governments to immediately end all arms sales and military cooperation with Israel.
He said that the regime "is inflicting some of the worst atrocities of this century on the people of Gaza."
Harvie condemned the famine gripping the territory as a "grotesque and totally avoidable consequence of this horrific war" and described the forced starvation of Palestinians as a deliberate, man-made crisis.
Reports show that Starmer's government authorized approximately $160 million in arms exports to Israel between October and December 2024, according to strategic export licensing records.
Human rights organizations say this level of support has enabled Tel Aviv's war crimes in Gaza, making the UK complicit in the ongoing humanitarian crisis and exposing it to accusations of aiding genocide.
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