7/22/2025–|Last update: 23:39 (Mecca time)
Although the war on the Gaza Strip has been going on almost at the same pace for more than 21 months, Britain has stressed this time its accent towards Israel, and threatened by its foreign minister, David Lami, to impose additional sanctions on it if it fails to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. Does this escalation represent a real transformation in British policy towards Israel, or just media messages to contain current pressures?
Lami said that his country will impose additional sanctions on Israel if the suffering they see with their own eyes does not end, adding that he feels “dismay” and “disgust” from the actions of Israel in the Gaza Strip.
The minister’s statements come at a time when the genocide that Israel is committing against the Palestinians in Gaza intensifies, after it applied the siege imposed on them and the hunger began to kill the lives of many of them, threatening the lives of more than two million people, while its planes and soldiers continue to bomb the Gazans by air and Barra.
The statement of the British minister – who did not specify the nature of the sanctions that London can impose on Israel – raises questions about the extent of his country’s readiness to translate its position into practical steps, and whether Washington will allow the passing of any action against Israel.
The Palestinians believe that the genocide committed by Israel occurs in collusion with the United States of America and with countries that still provide the occupation with weapons and political and diplomatic support, and did not deter him to stop its massacres.
Despite the continuous popular demonstrations in London against the war in the Gaza Strip, and the strong speeches issued by some politicians regarding their rejection of this war, the official position is still weak and did not rise to the level of preventing Israel from continuing the war, as the director of the “British Arab Understanding Council”, Chris Dowel, sees in his talk to the “Beyond the News” program.
The British government does not use the pressure papers it can deter Israel, perhaps – as Dowle suggests political accounts with the administration of US President Donald Trump, and taking into account the British -American relations.
And if the British government, if it wants to take practical measures against Israel, can suspend the free trade agreement, and to impose commercial and economic sanctions, and it says: Enough for extermination in Gaza, according to the director of the “British Arab Understanding Council”.
The British government has imposed sanctions on the Israeli national security and financial ministers, Etamar bin Ghafir and Bamliel Smotrich, and temporarily suspended free trade talks with Israel.
Pressure leaves
Analysts and observers believe that any action taken by Britain against Israel will not affect the Israeli behavior, unless it is associated with practical steps and affects the issue of weapons, which is indicated by the professor of international relations at the University of Geneva, Dr. Hosni Abidi, who says that there is a change in the European dialect in general towards Israel, but the positions are still not affecting, because European countries, especially the actors of them, do not use deterrent tools such as commercial sanctions And economic.
Earlier, Britain and 25 other countries invited in a joint statement to end the war in Gaza immediately, and the statement denounced the slow distribution of inhumane aid and killing of civilians, including children who seek to meet their simplest water and food needs.
Israel is concerned about the positions of some European countries that reject the extermination war it is waging on the Gaza Strip, but it knows – as the writer specializing in the Israeli affairs, Ihab Jabareen – says that as long as Washington is next to it and did not issue punitive measures against it on the issue of weapons, there is nothing that forced it to stop its war against the Gazans.
As Israel does not care about the criticism against it, as long as the most important and largest neighbor, which is Egypt “has no weight and no voice” in what is happening in Gaza, according to Jabarin.
In light of the continuation of the war on Gaza, calls in Britain and Europe are increasing to adopt more striking approaches towards economic cooperation with Israel, especially from institutions that raise moral or cooperative slogans.
