The failure to call a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war shames Britain - Yorkshire Post Letters

More than 150 countries are calling for an immediate ceasefire. To Britain's shame we are not one of them. Israel is using the most modern and sophisticated weapons against Gaza, reducing it to rubble, placing it under siege with no running water, no electricity and almost no food or medical supplies. The British Red Cross has warned that Gaza “is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe".

Eighteen thousand people, mostly women and children, have been killed in the tiny enclave of Gaza and thousands more maimed by Israel's indiscriminate bombing. Twenty one hospitals have been damaged or had to close. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council "across the Gaza Strip almost the entire population has been displaced. Nearly two in three homes are now damaged or destroyed."

Calling the Israeli military the Israeli Defense Force is risible. Regardless of the Hamas atrocities on October 7 - which apparently took this defence force completely by surprise - Israel has been in flagrant violation of international law and faces charges of ethnic cleansing and even genocide.

Israel stated recently that it had received the 200th cargo plane carrying military equipment from the United States since October 7. Ten thousand tons, they said. I doubt if Gaza had received a few hundred tons of food in that period.

Many authorities state that Israel has committed crimes against humanity in Gaza, and that Netanyahu, who is already facing charges of corruption in Israel, should be brought before the International Criminal Court.

Despite numerous UN resolutions calling for a two state solution, Israeli's ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, said bluntly when asked in a TV interview if Palestinians could have their own state replied: “Absolutely not”.

Does that mean that she wants Israel to expand from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, getting rid of the Palestinians once and for all?