A Labour MP has hailed Ed Miliband’s sanctions against Israel as “genuinely historic” despite Hamas praising the measures, insisting the policy is “not about” the terror group.
Gordon McKee, Labour MP for Glasgow South, defended the Foreign Secretary’s decision while speaking with GB News, saying the move was necessary to protect the prospect of a two-state solution.
The measures announced by Mr Miliband include sanctions targeting individuals and organisations linked to Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, as part of a wider package signed by 12 countries.
“The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists,” the Foreign Secretary told the Commons.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described the sanctions as “morally distorted” and accused Britain of “blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process”.
In response, Israel closed down Britain’s East Jerusalem consulate and restricted its involvement in Gaza and the West Bank.
Meanwhile, Hamas senior political bureau member Basem Naim described Mr Miliband’s measures as “important steps in the right direction”.
Asked about the warm reception from the group responsible for October 7, Mr McKee said: “This is not about Hamas.”
“This is about the people in the West Bank who live in the West Bank, Palestinians whose lives, whose communities are being destroyed by illegal settlements.”
The Labour MP insisted he considered Hamas an “evil organisation” with which he sought no dialogue.
“I have no time for them or have no patience, for they are an evil organisation,” he said.
“What this Government is doing is standing up for a two-state solution. And that is the right thing for this country, and it is the right thing for that region.”
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Praising Mr Miliband’s measures, he said: “I think Ed’s statement this week was genuinely historic.”
“It’s been welcomed by a great deal of countries around the world,” he added, pointing out 11 other countries had joined Britain in the package of measures.
The Labour MP said the Government’s action was a response to developments in the West Bank, claiming Israeli settlements were “increasingly trying to make a Palestinian state impossible”.
“I think Ed has done totally the right thing. I’m proud of what he’s done,” the Labour MP said.
He insisted the sanctions were intended to impose an “economic consequence” on those seeking to undermine the possibility of a Palestinian state.
The Glasgow South MP also rejected the suggestion that the sanctions would have little practical impact on the conflict.
He argued previous measures had amounted to little more than “symbolic gestures” and language, whereas the latest package carried economic consequences.
“That’s why the Israelis have responded so forcefully, because it does come with consequences,” Mr McKee said.
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