Eastwood claims Ambassador ‘implied Israeli trying to totally destroy Gaza Strip’

He was referring to comments made by senior Israeli diplomat Tzipi Hotovely on British talk radio station LBC last week.

In an exchange with LBC presenter Iain Dale Ms. Hotovely, referring to the ongoing bombardment of Gaza, said: ″One of the things we realised is that every school, every mosque, every second house, has access to the tunnels. And of course ammunition.”

Mr. Dale responded: “That’s an argument for destroying the whole of Gaza, every single building in it.”

To this the ambassador replied: “So, do you have another solution to destroy the underground tunnel city? This is the place where the terrorists hide, where they have all their ammunitions. And these are the rockets that is still being fired on Israeli cities.”

Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, the SDLP leader said: “Last week the Israeli ambassador in London said the quiet bit out loud when she implied that the Israeli Government are trying to totally destroy the Gaza strip.

War crimes must be stopped and international community must prevent genocide

"Has the Foreign Secretary hauled her in to explain that this Government oppose that policy, or is it the case that this Government are comfortable with that position—just as they seem to have been comfortable, alongside the US Administration, with the total and utter slaughter of innocent Palestinians over the last three months?”

Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Andrew Mitchell said: “The British Government make their views very clear at all times; I have just given the hon. Gentleman a list of all the different people the Prime Minister has been engaged with since this awful conflict started. We make consistent and clear points, all of which are questioned in this House.”

Gaza - A bloody disgrace: Baby boys and girls dying and power players still won't say 'ceasefire'

The latest data from the Gazan health ministry cited by the UN aid wing indicated at least 22,835 fatalities since Israeli military strikes began, in response to Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel on October 7 that left some 1,200 dead including at least 33 children and around 250 taken hostage.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also noted reports of 225 Palestinian fatalities between Friday and Sunday and almost 300 injured, with 174 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza and more than 1,000 injured since ground operations began, according to the Israeli Defence Forces.

After speaking in the British House of Commons on Monday Mr. Eastwood said: “There are barely words left to describe the horror of the situation in Gaza.

Palestine/Israel: We must make a stand for a more just world

"More than 20,000 people are dead. Women, children, parents and entire families have been killed by harrowing and unrelenting violence. Cities have been razed to the ground, millions have been made homeless and displaced.

"Even humanitarian aid workers and journalists aren’t safe from the overwhelming force being used against the Palestinian people.”

The Foyle MP called on British Foreign Secretary David Cameron to call the Israeli Ambassador in.

“The people of Palestine and Israel deserve peace. The actions of Hamas and the response of Israel have created a living Hell for civilians in one of the world’s most horrendous conflicts,” he stated.

History watching on Gaza siege