UK Liberal Democrats leader says Israel committing 'genocide' in Gaza

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is committing genocide in Gaza, said the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the first such statement from a major UK political party.

The Israeli government has been committing genocide in the besieged Palestinian enclave, Ed Davey said shortly after the UN report confirming the genocide in the Gaza Strip.

"Now the UN has come out with an authoritative report, I think we have to say the Netanyahu government is committing genocide in Gaza," he told Channel 4 in an interview on Tuesday, becoming the first major political party leader in the UK to explicitly call what is happening in Gaza genocide.

His remarks came after the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory confirmed on Tuesday that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.

The commission’s report concluded that Israel committed four out of the five acts of genocide defined in the “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”

Davey added, "And with (US) President (Donald) Trump, who has the power to stop this, who wants the Nobel Peace Prize, not stopping it, he needs to be called out too."

Asked whether the "special relationship" with the US should be ended under Trump, Davey said, "You have to work with whoever’s in the White House, even if you disagree with them."

"But I’m clear, and I’ve said it on many occasions, that President Trump is not a reliable ally for our country, whether it’s on the economy, on trade, whether it is on defense and security," he added.

On Tuesday, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory confirmed that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.

The commission’s report concluded that Israel committed four out of the five acts of genocide defined in the “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”

The Israeli army has killed almost 65,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war in the territory.