In a break from U.S., British PM calls for probe into Israel's killing of emergency workers in Gaza
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for a probe into the killing of 15 emergency workers in Gaza after a video appeared to contradict Israel's account.
LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for a probe into the killing of 15 emergency workers in Gaza after a video appeared to contradict Israel's account of the incident and it walked back its version of events.
“There’s got to be an investigation,” Starmer told the United Kingdom's lawmakers Tuesday. “And we have to be absolutely clear that we’re not just talking about that isolated incident.”
The United Nations and the Palestine Red Crescent Society have also condemned the March 23 incident, when the emergency workers were shot dead and buried in shallow graves. The Israel Defense Forces initially said it opened fire after unmarked vehicles approached in the dark, but changed its account after video showed clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks with their lights on coming under fire.
Starmer also criticized Israel’s “resumption of hostilities” in the Gaza Strip after two months of relative calm in the war-torn enclave came to an end and talks to extend the truce stalled. “We need to get back to a ceasefire,” he said.
He also echoed warnings from the U.N. that there “hasn’t been enough aid” getting into the Palestinian enclave after Israel halted all entry of humanitarian aid and goods into the Gaza Strip last month.
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