During the Gaza war, the United Kingdom government has supported Israel diplomatically, has shared Gaza surveillance information with Israel and has allowed arms sales to Israel's 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 and later Andy Burnham 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 September 2025, the UK formally recognised the State of Palestine.
In response to the October 7 attacks, 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 negotiations on a free 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.
Timeline
October 2023
On 8 October, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United Kingdom "unequivocally" stands with Israel. He also announced "we will continue to provide Israel with every support that it needs as we stand steadfast with Israel, including its right to self defence to ensure that these attacks do not happen." On 12 October, the UK announced that it would send two Royal Navy supports ships, 100 Royal Marines and surveillance aircraft to the Eastern Mediterranean from 13 October to support Israel. This includes Poseidon P-8 aircraft and other planes tasked partly with preventing weapon transfers to Hezbollah in Lebanon from Iran. On 18 October, the UK abstained from a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for "humanitarian pauses" to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. On 19 October, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrived in Tel Aviv in a two-day visit to "express solidarity with the Israeli people", as the relentless Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip has killed over 3,400 Palestinians.
November 2023 In November 2023, the Scottish National Party tabled a parliamentary motion calling for a ceasefire, saying in an official release, "It's time to call a spade a spade. To any neutral observer, war crimes are being committed by Israel in Gaza." No Conservative MPs voted for the motion and Labour said its MPs should abstain and, instead, vote on Labour's own motion calling for "humanitarian pauses" to the fighting. However, a number of its MPs, including frontbenchers, defied the order and voted for the ceasefire motion. Ten frontbenchers resigned from their position because they did not agree with the party line.
December 2023 On 2 December, the UK Ministry of Defence announced that it would begin surveillance flights over Gaza "in support of the ongoing hostage rescue activity". Former-Chief of the Defense Staff, David Richards, called on David Cameron to demand a ceasefire in December 2023.
January 2024 UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron expressed concern about potential breaches of international law by Israel, specifically addressing the need for Israel to restore water supplies to Gaza. Cameron said in the same month that "Israel is acting in self-defence after the appalling attack on October 7" and denied that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. He dismissed South Africa's ICJ genocide case against Israel as "nonsense", saying that Israel is "a democracy, a country with the rule of law, a country with armed forces that are committed to obeying the rule of law".
March 2024 Alicia Kearns, the Conservative chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, stated in a fundraising speech that the UK government received internal legal advice that Israel had broken international humanitarian law.
April 2024 On 15 April, Karim Ahmad Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), informed the British government that he would be seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leaders accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. On 23 April, David Cameron called Khan and threatened to withdraw the UK from the Rome Statute if Khan went ahead with seeking the warrants.
May 2024 On 21 May, Sunak criticized the ICC for seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, calling the action "deeply unhelpful". He emphasized that there is no "moral equivalence" between Israel and Hamas and argued that this move would make "absolutely no difference" to achieving wider peace in the Middle East. By May 2024, the UK had conducted 200 spy missions over Gaza in support of Israel. The planes took of from RAF Akrotiri airbase.
June 2024 On 8 June, the Nuseirat rescue operation was aided by intelligence support from the United Kingdom.
July 2024 UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesperson stated the UK was dropping its objections to the ICC prosecutor's request for arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.
September 2024 On 2 September, Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended thirty of 350 military export licenses to Israel after concluding there was a "clear risk" they might be used to commit serious violations of international law.
October 2024 On 18 October, following the killing of Yahya Sinwar, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the UK "will not mourn" the death of the Hamas leader, and described it as an opportunity for a ceasefire. Starmer added, "I say once again to Israel, the world will not tolerate any more excuses on humanitarian assistance. Civilians in northern Gaza need food, now". On 28 October, after Israel's parliament passed two laws banning UNRWA, Starmer issued a statement saying he was "gravely concerned". He said "The humanitarian situation in Gaza is simply unacceptable" and "Only UNRWA can deliver humanitarian aid at the scale and pace needed". The foreign ministers of the UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan and South Korea issued a joint statement that Israel's move would have "devastating consequences", and affirmed: "It is crucial that UNRWA and other UN organisations and agencies be fully able to deliver humanitarian aid".
November 2024 On 22 November, the British government stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he travels to the UK, after the International Criminal Court issued an international arrest warrant for him for alleged war crimes.
April 2025 On 15 April, Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar secretly travelled to the UK and met foreign secretary David Lammy. They discussed "the ongoing hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, the need to protect aid workers, end the humanitarian blockade of Gaza and stop settlement expansion in the West Bank". Sa'ar had recently attempted to justify Israel's decision to cut off aid to Gaza. Reportedly, Lammy gave Sa'ar his personal assurance that he would not be arrested.
May 2025 On 19 May, the governments of the UK, France and Canada issued a joint statement condemning Israel's renewed offensive against Gaza. They called for Israel to immediately stop its military operations and to immediately allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying "The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable". The statement condemned Israel's plan to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip as "abhorrent" and said it would breach international law. The governments warned they would take "concrete actions" if Israel continued its "egregious actions". On 20 May, the UK suspended talks on a free trade deal with Israel, summoned the country's ambassador, and imposed new sanctions against Israeli West Bank settlers. Foreign Secretary David Lammy called Israel's renewed offensive in Gaza "morally unjustifiable". Referring to Israeli plans to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip, Lammy said "It is extremism, it is dangerous, it is repellent, it is monstrous, and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu berated UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the leaders of France and Canada. Netanyahu accused them of siding with Hamas, "emboldening Hamas to continue fighting". He said "When mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers thank you, you're on the wrong side of justice, you're on the wrong side of humanity and you're on the wrong side of history".
June 2025 On 10 June, the UK government imposed sanctions on two Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, for "repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities" in the occupied West Bank. They were banned from entering the UK and had any assets in the UK frozen. The joint move by the UK, Norway, Canada, Australia and New Zealand was condemned by Israel and the US. Smotrich replied: "Britain has already tried once to prevent us from settling the cradle of our homeland, and we cannot do it again".
July 2025 In early July, the UK government banned the pro-Palestinian direct action group Palestine Action as a terrorist group under the Terrorism Act 2000. UN experts, civil liberties groups, and hundreds of lawyers condemned the ban as draconian and said it sets a dangerous precedent by conflating protest with terrorism. On 21 July, the foreign ministers of the UK and 27 other countries issued a joint statement condemning Israel's aid distribution in Gaza. It said: The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity. We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food. It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid. The Israeli Government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable.