UPDATE - Israel must be held accountable for its obligations as occupier, says top UK diplomat

ADDS MORE REMARKS; REVISES DECK

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The British foreign secretary on Wednesday reiterated that Israel has legal obligations as an occupying power, emphasizing the need to hold Tel Aviv accountable for those obligations.

In response to questions at a Foreign Affairs Committee session in parliament, David Lammy described the ongoing dire situation in the Gaza Strip as "tremendously horrendous."

Pointing out Israel's obligations, the foreign secretary emphasized that it must remember its obligations under international law.

"There are legal obligations as an occupying power, and I'm afraid that the international community is very clear about those obligations as an occupying power, and we do have to hold Israel to an account," he noted.

He added: "I expect, as a democratic nation, Israel has to keep in mind its obligations under international law."

When asked about the Israeli side's controversial remarks proposing annexation of the occupied West Bank, Lammy said: "I am going to do all I can to ensure that that does not occur."

He also reiterated Britain's desire for two states, warning that there is no room for illegal annexation.

Earlier this month, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, defying international law, declared that “the only way to remove the threat of a Palestinian state from the agenda is to apply Israeli sovereignty over the settlements in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).”

Smotrich said 2025 will be the year of Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank. He said he had instructed the Settlement Division and the Civil Administration, both under the Defense Ministry, to begin preparations for the necessary infrastructure to implement this policy.

Stressing that Britain will continue to call for a cease-fire in Gaza, Lammy said they are working "day on day to secure it."

- 'Situation is tremendously horrendous'

Earlier on Wednesday, Lammy said he spoke with Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), and the situation in Gaza is "so bleak."

"The situation is just tremendously horrendous. It's appalling. The reports of starvation and famine are deeply, deeply worrying," he noted.

Citing Lazzarini, he underlined the importance of unimpeded access to aid, adding that Israelis are imposing very strict restrictions on what can get into Gaza.

"This is a conflict in which the largest group of people who have lost their lives are children, and so this is something that causes tremendous concern,” Lammy added.

Regarding the Israeli Knesset bill to suspend UNRWA, he warned that such a scenario would have "huge, catastrophic implications," not just in Gaza but also in the occupied territories.

"I think it would be the wrong decision for Israel's security and it would certainly be the wrong decision for the people who rely on the services of UNRWA, in both Gaza and the occupied territories," he added.

Lammy reiterated that the UK welcomed a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Lebanon that took effect early Wednesday, ending over 14 months of fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah group.

We want to be in a situation where Lebanese can move back south and Israelis can move back north," Lammy said, expressing his hope to see an end to the fighting, gunfire, and rising death toll.

Israel will withdraw forces south of the Blue Line in a phased manner while the Lebanese army will deploy forces in southern Lebanon within a period that does not exceed 60 days, according to the terms of the deal.

The deal between Israel and Lebanon took effect hours after US President Joe Biden said a proposal to end the conflict had been reached, amid hopes it would stop Israeli airstrikes on Lebanese towns and cities and end the year-long cross-border fighting.

More than 3,800 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon and north of 1 million displaced since October 2023, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Last week, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024," after ICC prosecutor Karim Khan sought the warrants.

In doing so, it also unanimously rejected Israel's challenges to jurisdiction under articles 18 and 19 of the Rome Statute.

The court said it "found reasonable grounds" to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant "bear criminal responsibility" for "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts."

The warrants came as Israel’s genocidal offensive in the Gaza Strip recently entered its second year, having already killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing and deliberate blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, pushing the population to the brink of starvation.