United Kingdom and the Gaza war
During the Gaza war, the United Kingdom government has supported Israel diplomatically and by allowing arms sales to its military. It has also condemned some of Israel's actions, including its killing of Palestinian civilians and blockade of the Gaza Strip. The UK had a Conservative government led by Rishi Sunak until July 2024, and has had a Labour government led by Keir Starmer since then. Both governments have called for a ceasefire, a two-state solution, and provided humanitarian aid to Gaza. There have also been many large anti-war protests throughout the UK.
In response to the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asserted that the United Kingdom "unequivocally" stood with Israel. His government issued an "unequivocal condemnation" of Palestinian militant group Hamas and deployed British Armed Forces personnel and assets to the Eastern Mediterranean to support Israel if necessary. The Conservative government aligned itself with the United States, which gave significant support to Israel. In the first months, it abstained from three United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for immediate ceasefires. As a result, the UK was criticised as global calls for a ceasefire grew. Both the Conservative UK government and the Labour Party began calling for a ceasefire in December 2023, two months after the war began.
In May 2025, the UK's Labour government issued statements condemning Israel's ongoing attacks on Gaza, calling for Israel to immediately stop its military operations and to immediately allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. The UK government suspended talks on a trade deal with Israel, summoned Israel's ambassador, and imposed new sanctions against Israeli West Bank settlers, warning of further "concrete actions" if Israel continued.
The UK government issues licenses to British companies to sell military equipment to Israel, and Israel has used British-supplied weapons in the war: British companies supply less than 1% of Israel's military imports, and according to the UK government, British military exports to Israel amounted to £18 million in 2023. Various international organisations, over 600 members of the British legal profession, and three former senior British judges argued that British arms sales to Israel violate international law, and could render the UK complicit in Israeli war crimes and genocide. Conservative Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in April 2024 that the government would not block British arms sales to Israel. In September 2024, the UK's Labour government suspended some arms export licenses to Israel.