Keir Starmer, the leader of the British Labour Party, rejected calls to impose a ceasefire on Israel as it retaliates against Hamas for the massacre of over 1,400 Israelis on October 7.
"While I understand calls for a ceasefire at this stage, I do not believe that it is the correct position now for two reasons," Starmer said. "One, because a ceasefire always freezes any conflict in the state where it currently lies. And as we speak, that would leave Hamas with the infrastructure and the capability to carry out the sort of attack on October the 7th."
"It is this context which explains my second reason, which is that our current calls for pauses in the fighting, for clear and specific humanitarian purposes, and which must start immediately, is right in practice as well as principle," he added.
However, Starmer stated that "The reality is that neither the long-term security of Israel nor long-term justice for Palestine, can be delivered by bombs and bullets. Open-ended military action, action without a clear and desired political outcome, is ultimately futile."