SOCIALIST MPs and peers are calling on the British government to impose sanctions on Israel over its repeated violations of international law. 

Ministers are coming under mounting pressure to hold Israel to account after the death toll in Gaza surpassed 180 today, including at least 52 children and 31 women, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

An open letter by 24 members of the Socialist Campaign Group, including Diane Abbott, Apsana Begum, Bell Ribeiro Addy, Dawn Butler and Richard Burgon, warns that the injustice against Palestinians is intensifying.

“A long-lasting peace for both Palestinians and Israelis can only be secured through a just solution that tackles the injustices of Israel’s illegal occupation: its colonial settlements, its denial of Palestinian refugees’ right of return, its violations of human rights and international law and its seige of Gaza.

“As the former colonial power that issued the Balfour Declaration and was then responsible for the mandate leading to the Nakba [the Palestinian exodus] of 1948, Britain has a special responsibility to do all it can to ensure a just peace.” 

The letter, also signed by Labour peers Christine Blower, John Hendy and Shami Chakrabarti, calls on ministers to impose sanctions and place an arms embargo on Israel. 

It also calls on ministers to demonstrate full support for the International Criminal Court’s opening of an investigation into alleged war crimes in the occupied territories and to recognise the state of Palestine.

Nationally a petition calling on the government to embargo trade with Israel, especially arms, had been signed by more than 250,000 people as of this afternoon. This means the issue will be debated in Parliament.