A statement on Israel's "alleged war crimes" was released by the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (PPA) after the body held its yearly summit, which was meant to focus on the aftermath of Brexit, in London.
The 70-member body, consisting of MPs and MEPs, has met once a year for the last six years to discuss post-Brexit relations between the UK and the EU.
The agenda for this year's meeting was lengthy, listing trade agreements, cross-country policies and plans for bettering partnerships - it did not, however, list Israel.
Despite this, the statement released after the summit included comments on “the excessive nature of the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, leading to the deaths of more than 67,000 Palestinians and the death or injury of 50,000 children”.
The statement did not make clear that these figures, recorded by the Hamas-run Health Ministry, are heavily disputed.
The meeting called for the UK and EU to work together on investigations into Israel’s “alleged war crimes” in the Strip.
The statement also claimed that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid to Gazans, which it said “has caused a famine and exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Gaza”, and called for work to be carried out with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to offer “material support to independent investigations into all alleged war crimes and violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws”.
As reported by the Telegraph, Lord Frost, the former Brexit negotiator, who is a member of the assembly, said: “It is absurd that a parliamentary body created by the UK-EU trade agreement is spending time condemning Israel.
"It should stick to its job instead of giving space to outlandish and intemperate criticism of a friend and ally.”
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