THE SNP have joined cross-party calls for a full, public inquiry into the UK Government’s involvement in Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted for arrest for alleged crimes against humanity after actions which international experts conclude amount to “genocide” in the Palestinian region.
Almost all of Gaza’s 2.1 million people have been displaced, tens of thousands of children have been killed, hospitals, schools, and refugee camps have been targeted with bombs, and electricity and water supplies to the occupied region have been cut off amid a severe campaign launched in the wake of the October 7 attacks on Israel in 2023.
Despite numerous warnings that the UK will be complicit in any war crimes, the Tory and later Labour administrations have continued weapons exports to Israel and ongoing diplomatic support of the country.
In a joint letter first printed in the Guardian, a cross-party group of MPs – including the independent former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the SNP’s Middle East spokesperson at Westminster Brendan O’Hara, and English and Welsh Greens co-leader Carla Denyer – have called for an inquiry into the UK’s involvement.
The letter, which was also signed by Scottish Labour’s Brian Leishman and his colleagues from south of the Border Diane Abbott, Richard Burgon, and the suspended Labour MP Zarah Sultana, drew a comparison with the Chilcot inquiry after the Iraq war.
It states: “Published in 2016, the Chilcot inquiry found serious failings in the British government, which ignored the warnings of millions of ordinary people over its disastrous decision to go to war.
“History is repeating itself. Today, the death toll in Gaza has reportedly exceeded 61,000. Two Israeli officials are wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“Britain has played a highly influential role in Israel’s military operations, including the sale of weapons, the supply of intelligence and the use of Royal Air Force bases in Cyprus.
“Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of democracy. Therefore we are demanding an independent, public inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Israel’s military assault in Gaza.”
Their letter added: “Many people believe that the government has taken decisions that have implicated officials in the gravest breaches of international law. These charges will not go away until there is an inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth.”
Corbyn has previously called for an inquiry into the UK's complicity in Gaza, telling The National last year that he believed one would eventually be set up.
Mark Smith, a former Foreign Office second secretary, resigned his position in August 2024 over concerns about complicity with war crimes in Palestine.
In February this year, Smith made a series of explosive allegations about UK Government ministers and high-level officials having systematically skewed legal advice, edited documents, and covered up evidence of civilian harm in order to continue providing arms to countries such as Israel.
A Foreign Office spokesperson insisted the allegations were a “misrepresentation” of the facts.
Earlier this week, a United Nations (UN) commission concluded that Israel is committing “genocidal acts” in Palestine by systematically carrying out acts of sexual violence.
Francesca Albanese, the UN’s human rights investigator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, has said that UK Government ministers should be investigated for denying or even justifying Israeli war crimes in Palestine.
A UK Government spokesperson said: "Our priority since day one has been a sustainable ceasefire, and a lasting peace that will ensure the long-term peace and security of both Palestinians and Israelis.
"We must build confidence on all sides that helps sustain the ceasefire and move it from phase 1 through to phase 3, and into a lasting peace and an end to the suffering on all sides."
