Labour Friends of Israel presses UK to restore funding to Unrwa

Labour Friends of Israel has pressed the UK to restore funding to the UN Palestine relief agency Unrwa in the first internal pressure on Labour to shift policy on Israel.

Separately, a group of Labour MPs announced they were tabling an amendment to the king’s speech calling for funding to be restored.

In the amendment the MPs also call for an end to arms sales to Israel, and a commitment that Labour will drop the previous government’s legal challenge to the right of the international criminal court prosecutor to seek an arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

So far the foreign secretary, David Lammy, has held back from any big changes in policy to Israel and met Netanyahu in Israel, where he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages.

Labour Friends of Israel, in a briefing to MPs, said: “In the short term, the humanitarian situation in Gaza means the UK government should restore funding to Unrwa”. It said funding should be tied to more stringent vetting of staff, a transparent employee register and an overhaul of educational materials.

The conditions are largely in line with recommendations made in a report by the former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, that Unrwa has already accepted.

The Labour Friends of Israel briefing also suggested Unrwa should have a transitory role and its functions should be transferred to a revitalised Palestinian Authority.

The UK is the only country apart from the US not to restore funding, which was withdrawn after Israel said up to a dozen Unrwa staff had been involved in the 7 October massacre. An internal UN investigation has still not resolved all the cases.

Related: Unrwa accuses Israel of frequently preventing aid deliveries to Gaza

The amendment to the king’s speech has been tabled by Zarah Sultana, the Labour MP for Coventry South, and calls on the Commons to work to uphold international law in Israel and Palestine. It notes the widespread recognition of serious violations of international law in the conflict, including the finding by the international court of justice that Israel’s assault was plausibly in breach of the genocide convention.

The amendment also calls for the UK to suspend arms sales to Israel immediately, saying previous UK governments had done so including ones led by Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Sources say it is unlikely that the Sultana amendment will be called for a vote at the end of the king’s speech debate next week, but it is seen as a shot across the bows of the government and a potential moment to test the cross-party support Sultana can gather.

In seats with large Muslim populations at the general election, Labour saw a swing away from Keir Starmer of about 20%. Since then the killings have continued in Gaza, as well as multiple allegations of human rights offences including a refusal to give the International Red Cross access to Palestinian prisoners.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, said she was deeply concerned by reports that the UK would not drop the previous Conservative government’s legal challenge to the ICC’s jurisdiction in Gaza. The ICC has given the UK a further fortnight to decide.

She accused Britain of seeking to derail and delay justice for Palestinians, aggravating Britain’s responsibility in the crisis.

She said that in 2019, the ICC pre-trial chamber concluded that the court had jurisdiction over Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – a decision that had not been disputed by state parties to the Rome statute.

Labour sources have said it remained party policy that the ICC had jurisdiction.