BICOM

UK Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt urged calm and restraint in Gaza following the deadliest day since the wave of protests began seven weeks ago.

More than 50,000 Gazans participated in protests along the border with Israel. Fifty-nine were left dead and 1,200 wounded, according to Israeli estimates.

Burt said: “The violence today in Gaza and the West Bank has been shocking. The loss of life and the large number of injured Palestinians is tragic, and it is extremely worrying that the number of those killed continues to rise.”

“Such violence is destructive to peace efforts. We have been clear that the UK supports the Palestinians’ right to protest, but these protests must be peaceful,” Burt said. “It is deplorable that extremist elements may have been seeking to exploit these protests for their own violent purposes. We will not waiver from our support for Israel’s right to defend its borders. But the large volume of live fire is extremely concerning. We continue to implore Israel to show greater restraint.”

Burt reiterated that “the UK remains committed to a two-state solution with Jerusalem as a shared capital”.

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: “The killing of dozens of unarmed protesters and wounding of many more by Israeli forces in Gaza, on the day President Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, is an outrage that demands not just international condemnation, but action.”

Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry called on Israeli forces to “stop this vicious and utterly avoidable slaughter of peaceful protesters” and condemned the Israeli government for its “brutal, lethal and utterly unjustified actions”.

The Shadow Foreign Secretary said the UK should lead calls at the UN for an independent investigation into recent violence. UN Secretary General António Guterres told reporters in Vienna that he was “particularly worried” about the reported high death toll from yesterday’s clashes.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) will convene today for an emergency session. The US blocked a vote on a draft resolution calling for an independent and transparent investigation. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon has been in talks with the UNSC and presenting it with evidence that he says proves Hamas’s involvement in organising the demonstrations near the border fence.

During a White House press briefing on Monday, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said that Hamas “is responsible for these tragic deaths, that their rather cynical exploitation of the situation is what’s leading to these deaths, and we want them to stop”.