Britain is a founding member of the United Nations and pledged to uphold international law and ensure UN resolutions are implemented – many of which (in relation to Israel-Palestine) have been waiting decades to be actioned. So why did Britain vote for Trump’s Gaza plan at the UN Security Council meeting when it was clearly not aligned with international or humanitarian law and the UN’s team of experts had already listed 15 serious objections to it? And why didn’t you, the Opposition, hold our Government to account over this? Warnings issued in good time by the experts included the following:

•   Any peace plan must respect the ground rules of international law. The future of Palestine must be in the hands of the Palestinian people, not imposed under duress by outsiders.
•   The ICJ has ruled that fulfilling the right of self-determination cannot be conditional on negotiations
•   Who governs is a matter for the Palestinians only, without foreign interference.
•   The ICJ has been crystal clear: Conditions cannot be placed on the Palestinian right of self-determination. The Israeli occupation must end immediately, totally and unconditionally, with due reparation made to the Palestinians.
•   The United Nations – not Israel or the US – has been identified by the ICJ as the legitimate authority to oversee the end of the occupation and the transition towards a political solution in which the Palestinians’ right of self-determination is fully realised.
•   The Trump plan does not guarantee the Palestinian right of self-determination as international law requires; and vague pre-conditions put Palestine’s future at the mercy of decisions by outsiders, not in the hands of the Palestinians themselves as international law commands.
•   The “temporary transitional government” is not representative of Palestinians and even excludes the Palestinian Authority, which further violates self-determination and lacks legitimacy.

Ignorance was no excuse. So can anyone explain why the UN community allowed a ‘peace’ resolution which so obviously violates international and humanitarian law, and betrays the Palestinians (whose land this is), to come before their most senior and influential committee in the first place – especially after the UN’s own experts had condemned it?

Perhaps the answer lies in a new UN report, ‘Situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967’ requested by the Human Rights Council. This concludes that “the ongoing genocide in Gaza is a collective crime, sustained by the complicity of influential Third States” and is “facilitated through Third States’ direct support, material aid, diplomatic protection and, in some cases, active participation”?

The worst of these Third State facilitators of course is the US. But are you not ashamed that the UK has also played a key role in military collaboration with Israel? From its bases in Cyprus, the UK has enabled a crucial US supply line to Tel Aviv and flown over 600 surveillance missions over Gaza throughout the genocide, sharing intelligence with Israel. Flight numbers and durations, often coinciding with major Israeli operations, suggest detailed knowledge and co-operation in the destruction of Gaza, extending beyond “hostage rescue”. Furthermore, Israeli soldiers are trained at the UK Royal College of Defence Studies.

Thousands of citizens from the United States, Russia, France, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, among others, have served in the Israeli military since October 2023. Few have been investigated, and none prosecuted for crimes in Gaza.

The UN report recommends that States must now recognise Palestinian self-determination as essential to lasting peace and security, and therefore:

(a) Suspend all military, trade and diplomatic relations with Israel;

(b) Investigate and prosecute all officials, corporates and individuals involved in or facilitating genocide, incitement, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other grave breaches of international humanitarian law;

(c) Secure reparations, including full reconstruction and return;

(d) Co-operate fully with the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice;

(e) Reaffirm and strengthen support to UNRWA and the UN system as a whole;

(f) Suspend Israel from the United Nations under Article 6 of the UN Charter;

(g) Act under “Uniting for Peace”, in line with General Assembly resolution 377(V), to ensure that Israel dismantles its occupation.

One of the points I put to you previously was this: Starmer et al insist that Hamas shall play no part in governance without explaining how they can legally interfere and dictate who may (and may not) rule the Palestinian state. You reply that “the 20-point US plan makes important points that could help bring peace about, including on ramping up aid delivery to innocent civilians in Gaza, and stating that Gaza must be terror-free and redeveloped, with no involvement from Hamas.” But the legal position, repeatedly made clear by the UN and other respected sources, is that it’s a matter entirely for the Palestinians.

You also say that “peace in the Middle East will never be secured by rewarding terrorism”. True, if you add “or by denying justice”. Indeed, by rewarding Israeli terrorism for the last 77 years and denying the Palestinians justice successive UK governments have helped ensure that no peace was possible.

And please note how the European powers including UK, in criticising Trump’s plan for Ukraine, insist that Ukraine’s borders must not be changed by force and its armed forces must not be limited so as to leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack by Russia. But they aren’t in the least concerned about Trump’s appalling plan for Gaza which aims to de-militarise and disarm the Palestinians, gives Israel a green light to continue its illegal presence in both Gaza and the West Bank, and exposes Palestinians to never-ending attack and subjugation by a permanently hostile Israel. That plan puts the joint perpetrators in charge, who continue their genocidal slaughter even during ceasefire. Did you ever see such a gross display of double standards?

The post Gaza: Trump’s Fake Peace Plan Approved by UK first appeared on Dissident Voice.

This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.