Majority of Britons support immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israeli arms embargo: poll | Israel War in Gaza News

London, United Kingdom – More than 70 percent of the British public support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, a new poll shows, as pressure mounts on the government to take a stronger stance against Israel.

Among those who voted for the governing Conservative Party in 2019, 67 percent supported an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, according to the poll released on Friday and commissioned by Medical Aid to the Palestinians (MAP) and the Council for Understanding Arabic-British (CAABU).

Eighty-six percent of Labor voters supported the call, while just 8 percent of those polled said there should not be a ceasefire.

The United Kingdom refused to call for an immediate ceasefire.

In December, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock wrote in The Times: “We do not believe that calling now for a general and immediate ceasefire, hoping that it will somehow become permanent, be the way forward.”

Such an appeal “ignores why Israel is forced to defend itself,” they wrote. “Hamas savagely attacked Israel and still fires rockets to kill Israeli citizens every day. Hamas must lay down its arms.”

But as the war rages on and bodies pile up across Gaza, a large part of society finds the government’s position untenable.

The research took place more than seven months after Israel’s last and deadliest war in Gaza, which has so far killed more than 35,000 people, most of them women and children.

Israeli forces launched a ground invasion of the Strip after Hamas, which rules the enclave, attacked southern Israel on October 7. During that attack, which drastically escalated the long-running conflict between Israel and Palestine, 1,139 people were killed and hundreds were taken prisoner.

“These polls clearly show that both the government and the Labor leadership are out of touch with British public opinion. What is particularly disappointing is the failure of the Labor Party to challenge the government,” Heather, a pro-Palestine activist, told Al Jazeera.

“We have started to see Labor leaders backtracking on their position on Gaza and although the term ‘lasting ceasefire’ is now being used by the party, they still refuse to call for an ‘immediate’ ceasefire.”

The survey reflects a sample of 2,053 people, interviewed between May 1st and 2nd.

“The government and Labor leadership continue to slowly lag behind British public opinion by failing to take the decisive action needed to help bring a swift end to the horrors we see in Gaza – a trend also highlighted in polls across Europe,” he said. the director of Caabu. Chris Doyle.

“There is little confidence in the leadership of both major parties in managing this major international crisis.”

With Israel expanding its military incursion into Rafah, a densely populated area in southern Gaza, calls for the UK to sever its military ties with Israel have become louder.

The poll suggested that 55 percent of people support an end to arms sales to Israel during the war, while 13 percent said they want to see a continuation.

Along political lines, 40 percent of Conservative voters believed the UK should stop selling weapons, while just 24 percent were opposed. As for Labor Party voters, 74 percent are in favor of suspending the UK agreements, compared to just 7 percent who opposed the call.

Cameron said on Sunday that the UK does not sell weapons directly to Israel but grants licenses to arms companies.

“Just to announce today that we will change our approach to arms exports would make Hamas stronger and make a hostage deal less likely,” Cameron told the BBC.

Since the start of the war, tens of thousands of people have protested in London and other major cities calling for an end to the war.

“They [calls for halting weapons sales] It means that people in this country are not content to sit idly by while elected officials maintain a stance of inaction,” Heather said. “Our government’s continued complicity – ranging from providing weapons to those who commit violence to supporting and excusing genocidal policies – has forced many to act.”