More than 300 public figures from arts and media called on the British government to end its ‘complicity’ in Gaza.
“We urge you to take immediate action to end the UK’s complicity in the horrors in Gaza,” read an open letter addressed to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and obtained by Sky News on Thursday.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Dua Lipa, Annie Lennox, Gary Lineker, Paloma Faith, and Lena Headey were among the names from media and arts who joined the leading doctors, academics, campaign groups, and a Holocaust survivor.
The letter, led by refugee charity Choose Love, accuses the British government of allowing UK arms to be sold to Israel and providing licenses for arms, and demands an immediate suspension.
It also urges for immediate humanitarian access for aid agencies and calls on the British government to commit to brokering a ceasefire for “the children of Gaza.”
The letter points to the starving children in Gaza while food and medicine “sit just minutes away.”
“You can’t call it ‘intolerable,’ yet do nothing. … Prime minister, what will you choose? Complicity in war crimes, or the courage to act?” the letter further called on Starmer.
The letter came after over 800 judges and lawyers also called on the British government to take reasonable steps to “prevent and punish genocide.”
The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a devastating offensive in Gaza since October 2023, killing over 54,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among the enclave’s more than 2 million population.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.
