Keir Starmer pushes Israel for ceasefire after party sheds Muslim votes

Keir Starmer has pushed with Israel’s Prime Minister for a ceasefire in Gaza in one of his first international phone calls since assuming office.

The new Prime Minister “set out the clear and urgent need for a ceasefire” to Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call this morning, a Downing Street statement has confirmed.

Starmer also said that he looked forward to “further deepening” relations between the United Kingdom and Israel during the call.

In a subsequent call with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, the Prime Minister said that statehood was an “undeniable right” for the Palestinian people.

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It comes after many Labour candidates faced assertive challenges from independents standing on a pro-Palestine platform, with frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth being among the most high profile party figures to lose his seat to such an independent.

Other constituencies including Ilford North and Birmingham Ladywood – represented by cabinet members Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood – saw their Labour incumbents narrowly hold on in the face of pro-Palestine independent challengers.

Keir Starmer drew fierce criticism following an LBC interview last autumn when he seemed to suggest Israel had a right to withhold power and water supplies from Gaza amid Israel’s military operations following the October 7 Hamas terror attacks.

He later said he had only referred to Israel’s right to defend itself and that its retaliation to the Hamas attacks must follow international law.

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