A Labour frontbencher has resigned from the main British opposition party, mounting pressure on the party leader Keir Starmer over his refusal to back a ceasefire in Gaza.
UK’s media outlets reported on Wednesday that Shadow Minister for the New Deal for Working People, Imran Hussain, said he had been “deeply troubled” by Starmer’s call for continued Israeli strikes against the hapless people in the blockaded Palestinian territory.
The Bradford East MP Hussain wrote a letter to the UK Labour Party’s leader, criticizing his former boss for endorsing the brutal actions of the Apartheid Zionist Israeli regime forces’ implementation of genocide in the Gaza Strip, bombing the besieged area, blocking the supply of water, food, medicine and power to the surrounded Palestinian land, killing more than 10,000 people, including 4,000 children, in the month-long airstrikes and shelling from air, land and sea.
In the letter addressed to Starmer, who rejected the huge public callings for a truce in Gaza, Hussain wrote, “The cutting of food, water, power, and medicine to Palestinians in Gaza is an act of collective punishment that violates international law.
“Like many others, I was therefore deeply troubled by the comments you made… You appeared to endorse such actions by the Israeli military.”
Hussain said he would continue to push for a ceasefire from the backbenches of parliament.
The resignation of Hussain comes as other members resign due to the party leader’s support of Israel. Burnley Council leader Afrasiab Anwar stepped down from the party along with ten others.
Anwar said “blindly following Rishi Sunak” was “not acceptable”.
Separately, Pendle Borough Council leader Asjad Mahmood rebuked Starmer because he had “failed to listen” to calls for a ceasefire to “stop the innocent loss of lives”.
Mahmood insisted that Keir should resign to “allow someone who has compassion to lead our party”.
Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian groups in the UK continue to hold mass rallies in support of Gaza.
UK protest organizers said in a statement on Monday that they would continue to march on full throttle for Gaza until a ceasefire has been put in place in the besieged Palestinian territory under relentless fire from the Israeli occupation forces.
No. 10’s spokesperson reacted by saying the prime minister considers as “provocative and disrespectful” the scheduling of a march in London on Armistice Day, which is on November 11, despite the British Government’s fierce opposition to the move.
In the meantime, the UK government is set to hold an emergency committee to consider the local impact of the Gaza war.
The UK prime minister’s spokesperson said the committee would address important issues around “community cohesion”.
