Lord Cameron advocates 'pause' in the fighting to free Israeli hostages and bring more aid to Gaza. Photo: ALEXANDER YERMOCHENKO/REUTERS
Lord Cameron is “losing focus” on the threat Hamas poses to Israel, suggested the leading CC in the House of Lords
Lord Pannick, who was part of the parliamentary delegation that visited Israel last week, said he was concerned that recent Foreign Office decisions and statements showed a “failure to recognize that Israel really has no choice but to continue its war against Hamas “
The peer said of Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary: “I hope he will reconsider returning to an approach that understands the problems Israel faces and its vital need to do everything possible to reduce the military potential of Hamas.”
His intervention comes amid growing concern among some peers and Conservative MPs that the government's support for Israel is waning after Britain helped pass the first UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Following previous criticism of the Foreign Minister's public criticism of Israel, Foreign Ministry sources insisted that “being a friend means sending a strong message”, including by pressuring the Israeli government to facilitate the delivery of more humanitarian aid to Gaza.< /p> 
On March 20, Lord Cameron said that “we must get Hamas leaders out of the Gaza Strip,” to achieve a permanent ceasefire. He said he favored a “pause” during which Israeli hostages would be released and more aid delivered to Gaza before moving to a long-term ceasefire, capitalizing on the “irresistible momentum” generated in such a scenario.
< p>But Lord Wolfson of Tredegar, a former Conservative minister and another senior CC in the House of Lords, said that while Rishi Sunak had voiced a “voice of personal moral clarity” on Israel, “I would like this to resonate among all officials in the House lords.” King Charles Street [Westminster address of the Foreign Office] also.”
He questioned why the UK was at odds with the US, which abstained from the UN vote, and it was “surprising” that the Foreign Office had threatened to ban arms sales to Israel given that the UK sells arms to countries such as Qatar. “which are neither democracies nor the threat of destruction.”
Lord Cameron previously faced backlash from Conservative MPs over Britain's support for the UN resolution. Theresa Villiers, the former Northern Ireland minister, said she was “dismayed” by Britain's new position and asked whether calls for a ceasefire were still contingent on the release of hostages.
There are concerns that government support for Israel is waning. Photo: GPO/KOBI GIDEON HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Before the UN vote last week, Lord Polak, another fellow Conservative and honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel, warned that parts of the government were among those involved in “spreading lies about what is happening in the Gaza Strip.” .< /p>
On March 22, taking part in the Lords debate on genocide, Lord Polak said: “Let's see what harm misinformation can do. Unfortunately, social media and mainstream news outlets, including the UK government, may be complicit in spreading lies about what is happening in Gaza. I shudder to think what Joseph Goebbels would have done with social networks.”
Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph after returning from Israel last week, Lord Pannick said: “There is concern that the Foreign Office, which rightly showed great sympathy for Israel after October 7, is beginning to lose its focus. The main evidence of this is the failure to recognize that Israel truly has no choice but to continue the war against Hamas, emphasizing that it is not a war against the Palestinian people.
“From the events of October 7th and from what Hamas has said since then, it is abundantly clear that if their ability to strike Israel is not eliminated, there will be another October 7th… Israel must stop this, and another country in its place will the same”. … I and others are very concerned that the government is losing focus on these central issues.”
Lord Pannick told the Lords in October that the conflict was “personal to me” given his wife was Israeli and the couple had friends whose family members were killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
He told this newspaper that the “tragic” images of suffering in Gaza mask a “more complex reality”, adding: “I am concerned that the government is not focusing on the political and military reality and is looking at only one aspect, albeit a tragic one. this.” He continued: “I am absolutely convinced that Israel's approach to this conflict is in accordance with international law.”
Lord Wolfson said: “The idea that you would negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas and then move on to negotiations that will lead to a two-state solution is a complete fantasy. Hamas wants a one-state, theocratic and Jew-free solution. I have always been a supporter of the two-state solution, which has been British foreign policy for as long as I can remember.“I hope the Foreign Office realizes that this is not the case: either you wage war against Hamas until Hamas is defeated, or you have a peace process leading to a two-state solution. The necessary precursor to a two-state solution is the complete defeat of Hamas.”
The Telegraph previously reported that Lord Cameron was prepared to suspend the UK's export license to Israel if there was a change in his department's legal opinion on whether Israel complied with international humanitarian law.
The Observer reported on Saturday evening about claims by Alicia Kearns, chairwoman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, that government lawyers were advising that Israel had violated international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip.
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