Netanyahu is committing war crimes, says Scottish Labour leader Sarwar

Craig Paton
·2-min read

The Israeli prime minister is “committing war crimes” in Gaza, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said.

The Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu has been under international pressure due to its actions in the region following the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Speaking at a BBC debate in Glasgow on Tuesday, Mr Sarwar hit out at Mr Netanyahu’s actions after being challenged by a member of the audience.

John Swinney and Anas Sarwar in a tense exchange during a BBC debate
Anas Sarwar’s comments came during a BBC debate on Tuesday (Jane Barlow/PA)

Asked what a Labour government would do about Gaza if it wins the General Election on July 4, Mr Sarwar said: “I’ve been to the Gaza Strip myself to deliver aid into the Gaza Strip before I became a politician, my views are well known.

“I believe in a two-state solution, I believe Benjamin Netanyahu is committing war crimes, I believe Hamas should be separated from the Palestinian people, I believe that we need an immediate ceasefire and immediate access to humanitarian aid.”

There also needs to be a “change of situation on the ground” for the benefit of the Palestinian and Israeli people, the Scottish Labour leader added.

Mr Sarwar’s comments about the Israeli prime minister drew applause from sections of the audience.

The comments come 24 hours after the UN Security Council endorsed a ceasefire plan for the region, which the US said had been accepted by Israel and which Hamas has welcomed, saying it was ready to work with mediators to implement the plan.

Last week, Labour pledged to recognise a Palestinian state if the party wins on July 4.

Ahead of a meeting where the party sealed its manifesto, leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “That needs to be part of the process, it’s very important we have a viable Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel.”

Asked whether this will be in the manifesto, he told the BBC: “It will be.”

Palestinians had an “inalienable right” to be recognised, he added.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories

  • Open criticism of Hamas is building in Gaza as Israel's deadly offensive rages on: 'May God curse them'

    Public criticism of Hamas, which took full control of Gaza in 2007, had been relatively rare before the Gaza war.

  • Umno veterans question low Chinese voter turnout at Sg Bakap

    KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — The Umno Veterans Club today expressed concern over the low turnout of Chinese voters during the...

  • France’s far right suffers surprise blow as voters rally to block it from power

    France was braced for a far-right victory after Marine Le Pen's National Rally party surged ahead in the first round of snap legislative elections. But the second round delivered a setback to the party as centrist and leftist candidates made tactical deals in three-way races and voters turned out in force to defeat the far right. The champagne was on ice at the far-right National Rally's (RN) headquarters, but the celebratory mood swiftly turned to disbelief when the first projected results from

  • Will the Starmers be the first prime ministerial family since the Wilsons not to live in Downing Street?

    The move to Downing Street is a symbolic moment for any incoming prime minister, the most obvious proof of your drastically changed situation. You do not merely run the shop, as Mrs Thatcher said, you live above it. Downing Street is one of the most prestigious political residences on Earth, perhaps second only to the White House. For five years, barring calamity, it is yours, for you to decorate with all the golden Lulu Lytle wallpaper you like.

  • Russia claims to have captured Storm Shadow missile – and it’s now studying how it works

    Russia claims to have captured the warhead of one of Ukraine’s most destructive weapons and is now studying how it works.

  • Modi's Russia visit shows India isn't worried about making the US mad

    India buys about $60 billion of goods a year from Russia. In contrast, Russia buys less than $5 billion worth from India.

  • Labour desperately needs some foreign cash – and fast

    They can line up Chequers, or perhaps Windsor Palace. They can ask the King or Prince William to host a glamorous dinner. Perhaps they can even persuade Sir Elton John, given that he is supporting the party, to sing a few songs, or, failing that, at least get Ed Sheeran to strum his guitar.

  • Michael Moore Reveals His ‘Heartbreaking’ Conclusion About Biden

    The filmmaker had blunt words for the president in a new MSNBC interview.

  • Opinion: Europe and NATO can't help the U.S. counter China. Here's why

    Many of America's NATO allies would be hard-pressed to defend themselves, and one another, against a determined Russian assault, let alone project power in Asia.

  • Obama’s Go-To Guy in the White House Says There’s No Way Biden Wins

    David Axelrod didn’t mince words when the subject of Joe Biden’s chances of re-election came up during a Sunday appearance on CNN, saying he doesn’t believe the president understands he can’t beat Donald Trump in November.“There are certain immutable facts of life—and those were painfully obvious on that debate stage—and the president just doesn’t seem to come to—he hasn’t come to grips with it. He’s not winning this race,” Axelrod said on Inside Politics. “If you just look at the data and talk

  • Who is in Keir Starmer’s new Labour Cabinet?

    Sir Keir Starmer has appointed David Lammy as his Foreign Secretary as he builds his Labour Cabinet.

  • France Election Shocker: Left Bloc Takes Lead, but No Party Wins Majority

    A coalition of left-wing parties and Emmanuel Macron's center-left party blocks the far-right National Rally from a Parliament majority The post France Election Shocker: Left Bloc Takes Lead, but No Party Wins Majority appeared first on TheWrap.

  • Kanye West’s ex Amber Rose set to speak at the RNC

    Amber Rose announced in May that she would be endorsing Trump in the 2024 election

  • All eyes will be on President Joe Biden at NATO summit - and the risks of missteps are huge

    The fallout from President Biden's disastrous debate performance a little over a week ago continues. Late on Sunday Democratic Party congressional leaders met their rank-and-file members to canvas opinion on whether to double down on candidate Biden or move to call formally for him to step down. As they coalesce around a decision this week, all eyes will be on the president as he hosts the annual NATO summit in Washington - the biggest event of its kind in three decades.

  • Philadelphia Radio Host Resigns After Revealing Biden Team Gave Her Questions To Ask

    Philadelphia radio station WURD has cut ties with a host who revealed President Joe Biden‘s team provided her pre-approved questions before a recent interview. WURD president and CEO Sara M. Lomax announced that the station “mutually agreed to part ways” with Andrea Lawful-Sanders in a statement on Sunday after Lomax admitted that the “questions were …

  • The broken promises that prove why you can’t trust Labour with your money

    Sir Keir Starmer has entered Downing Street – nearly 30 years since Tony Blair first strode into Number 10.

  • Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán makes surprise China visit after trip to Russia

    Orbán has proclaimed himself the one EU leader on friendly terms with the world's two preeminent authoritarian governments.

  • Biden’s doctor ‘met with Parkinson’s disease specialist at the White House’

    Joe Biden’s doctor met with a leading Parkinson’s disease specialist at the White House earlier this year, it has emerged, amid ongoing questions about the US president’s health.

  • IDF takes CNN into Gaza to see tunnel network

    CNN’s Jeremy Diamond reports on the network’s first look into Rafah since fighting began in the city three months ago.

  • French left set to defeat far right in election upset: projections

    An alliance of French left-wing parties was on course Sunday to become the biggest parliamentary bloc by beating the far right and President Emmanuel Macron's coalition, according to surprise projected results.No one group won an absolute majority in the poll, plunging France into political limbo with no clear path to forming a new government, two days before a major NATO summit and three weeks before the Paris Olympics. The New Popular Front (NFP) -- formed last month after Macron called snap elections -- brought together the previously deeply-divided Socialists, Greens, Communists and the hard-left together in one camp.Nevertheless, veteran presidential candidate Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) led the race after the June 30 first round of voting, with opinion polls predicting that she would lead the biggest party in parliament after Sunday's run-off.But projections based on vote samples by four major polling agencies on Sunday showed no group on course for an absolute majority and the left-wing NFP ahead of both Macron's centrist Ensemble and Le Pen's eurosceptic, anti-immigration RN.Macron, who has yet to speak in public about the projections, is calling for "prudence and analysis of the results", said an aide, asking not to be named.- 'Historic occasion' -Firebrand leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) and the controversial figurehead of the NFP coalition, demanded that Prime Minister Gabriel Attal resign and that the left be allowed to form a government."The New Popular Front is ready to govern," he declared, in an address to supporters. "Its constituent parts, the united left, have shown themselves equal to the historic occasion and in their own way have foiled the trap set for the country. In its own way, once again, it has saved the Republic."The left-wing group was predicted to take between 172 and 215 seats, the president's centrist allies are on 150 to 180 and the National Rally in a surprise third place on 115 to 155 seats.  This marks a new high water mark for the far right, but falls well short of the victory they had hoped for, which would have seen Le Pen's 28-year-old lieutenant Jordan Bardella become prime minister. Instead, he expressed fury.Bardella dubbed the local electoral pacts that saw the left and centrists avoid splitting the anti-RN vote as "alliance of dishonour" that had thrown "France into the arms of Jean-Luc Melenchon's extreme left"."I say this tonight with gravity. Depriving millions of French people of the possibility of seeing their ideas brought to power will never be a viable destiny for France," he said, vowing to carry on the fight.Last week saw more than 200 tactical-voting pacts between centre and left wing candidates in seats to attempt to prevent the RN winning an absolute majority.This has been hailed as a return of the anti-far right "Republican Front" first summoned when Le Pen's father Jean-Marie faced Jacques Chirac in the run-off of 2002 presidential elections.- Tense campaign -Macron will attend the upcoming landmark NATO summit in Washington a diminished figure and France has been left without a stable ruling majority less than three weeks before Paris hosts the Olympics.The election campaign, the shortest in French history, was marked by a febrile national mood, threats and violence -- including racist abuse -- against dozens of candidates and canvassers.Some 30,000 police were deployed to keep order, and many voters expressed fears that rioting could erupt in some cities after the results were announced. Turnout was nevertheless high, with left-wing and centrist candidates urging supporters to defend democratic values and the rule of law -- while the far right scented a chance to upend the established order.An outright RN victory would have weakened France's international standing and threaten Western unity in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.EU officials, already learning to deal with far-right parties in power in Italy and the Netherlands and frustrated by Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, are watching France closely. The question for France now is if this alliance of last resort can now support a stable government, dogged by a huge RN bloc in parliament led by Le Pen herself as she prepares a 2027 presidential bid.sjw-dc/jm