Louise Haigh rebuked by Israeli embassy after saying government wouldn’t ‘stand by while innocent children are killed in Gaza’

“We will no longer stand by while innocent Palestinian families are torn apart. While innocent children are killed in Gaza. And while the hope of a two-state solution evaporates before our eyes.”

Defending the sanctions announced by Ed Miliband last week, the first secretary of state denied they were aimed at all Israelis, adding: “The Israeli people are not responsible for the actions of their government.

“So, we are purposefully targeting the illegal settlements. Increasing pressure on the Israeli government. And helping to keep the hope of peace in the Middle East alive.”

However, Haigh’s speech was criticised by Israel’s embassy in the UK as one-sided.

“It is deeply troubling to see such one-sided statements that repeatedly focus on the Palestinian narrative while ignoring Jewish victims of terrorism, including children”, the embassy said in a post on X.

“Any serious discussion of the conflict must acknowledge the Israeli victims of Palestinian terrorism, and the ongoing struggle against those who deliberately target civilians. Ignoring these victims does not promote peace or justice; it creates a deeply distorted and one-sided picture of reality.”

Haigh, who was forced to step down as transport secretary in Sir Keir Starmer’s government after it emerged that she had previously pleaded guilty to a fraud offence, has previously described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide”.

In a debate in the House of Commons last year, she told MPs that “it is impossible to conclude that what is happening in Gaza is anything short of genocide”.

Elsewhere, Ed Miliband defended his speech announcing the sanctions in which he accused Israel of allowing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the West Bank, saying his late mother, a Holocaust survivor, would have supported him.

He told the Rest is Politics podcast: “You knew my mum, who died at the end of May, and Jewish refugee, the most appalling wartime experience.

“Lost her father, 60 relatives in the concentration camps. Before she got ill, one of the things she, what she really saw, what she saw 20 years of her life too, was the situation of the Palestinians.

“I've thought a lot about, as I wrestled with this statement and what I should say and what I shouldn't say and how far I should go, I wrestled a lot with what she would say. And she'd say: look at what is happening to Palestinians. Look at what is happening to these poor people. It's wrong, and you've got to call it out.”

The foreign secretary continued: “And, you know, was saying ethnic cleansing a big deal? Because partly because of, you know, what the term connotes, yes. And I thought a lot about that. I thought a lot about talking about war crimes.

“And I thought, well, actually, she would be saying, you know, for goodness sake, you've got to say what is happening. Got to be willing to tell the truth. The least that the poor people who are suffering are owed is the truth. And then to try and do something about it.”