Jeremy Corbyn suffered a humbling moment in the House of Commons as he was slapped down by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The former Labour leader took Sunak’s addressing of MPs as an opportunity to voice concerns for the people of Gaza.
Corbyn, an outspoken critic of the Israeli regime, has failed to brand Hamas terrorists despite repeatedly being invited to do so since their attack on October 7.
The death toll of Israelis has risen to over 1,400 since the conflict began, prompting a UK Government response of reaffirming support for its ally.
Rishi Sunak lashed out at Corbyn
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Speaking in the House of Commons, Corbyn questioned why Sunak did not instruct Britain’s representative to the UN to support a ceasefire in order to allow aid to travel into Gaza.
“The loss of 5,000 Palestinian lives in Gaza is continuing to get worse”, he said.]
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“The question is, why did the Prime Minister instruct Britain’s representative to the UN to not support the call for a very minimal thing, a humanitarian pause to allow aid to go in and a ceasefire to take place to start bringing about peace.
“That’s ultimately, the only way forward.”
Sunak responded by telling the ex-Labour leader that Britain is “focused” on bringing about a “better and brighter future” for Palestinians.
Much to Corbyn’s dismay, Sunak continued his statement by hitting out at his previous remarks with regards to Hamas.
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in GazaReuters“I would say to the honourable gentleman, I’m surprised he hasn’t made any reference to the fact that an organisation he once described as a ‘friend’ has perpetrated an absolutely appalling act of terrorism on over 1,000 people”, he said.
Corbyn reaffirmed his support for the people of Gaza by attending a pro-Palestine protest last week.
The former Labour leader took an opportunity to address the crowd by urging politicians to condemn Israeli actions in Gaza.
He said: “As we wave the Palestinian flag, let’s hear it for the people of the West Bank, for the people of Gaza, for the people of the refugee camps, and say very bluntly to our political leaders in this country: ‘Do not condone war crimes, do not condone the starvation and the denial of medicine to desperate people in Gaza or anywhere else.’
“If you believe in international law, if you believe in human rights, then you must condemn what is happening now in Gaza by the Israeli army.”
Days after Hamas committed atrocities in Israel, Corbyn issued a statement to condemn “all attacks” before repeating his call for an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
He said the occupation is “of course, fundamentally the background to the whole issue”.
Speaking to ITV, Corbyn stopped short of directly condemning the terrorist group he previously called “friends”, a remark he later admitted to regretting.