'He's the only one he listens to': PM urged to get Trump to pressure Netanyahu on Gaza ahead of visit
Emily Thornberry has told LBC the Prime Minister should use some of the UK's "political capital" to get Donald Trump to pressure Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel's offensive in Gaza ahead of this week's US Presidential visit.
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Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr, the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury said Trump is the "only one [Netanyahu] listens to."
She also told Marr “Israel needs to be pulled back from the brink” to prevent “children from either starving to death or being shot” in Gaza.
At least 101 people, 80 being children, have died of hunger in the wake of October 7, 2023, with most deaths coming in recent weeks. 21 of those deaths have come in the last 72 hours, doctors on the ground in Gaza revealed on Tuesday.
The UN has blamed rising hunger and malnutrition on Israel’s continued blockade of Gaza, which has seen the region’s people “drip-fed” aid, a policy the UK government has branded “inhumane.”
The US President is expected to arrive later this week to visit his golf courses in Scotland and hold informal talks with Sir Keir Starmer and John Swinney.
Asked if there is any more that the UK government could be doing to stop Israel’s actions in Gaza, Ms Thornberry replied: "The trouble is, people see the images on television, and they write to their MPs, and they say, "What are you going to do about this? What can you do about this?"
"And then the MPs go to the government and go, "Well, what are you going to do about this? You've got to do something about it."
She added: "Israel is an ally, but they don't listen to what we say.
"They don't listen and that is what we're not used to."
Read more: At least 101 people, including 80 children, die of hunger and malnutrition in Gaza
When asked if there is more the UK could be doing in terms of trade embargos with Israel, Ms Thornberry said: "I think the question is actually more urgent than that. I think the question is, what are we going to do now?
"How do we stop these children from either starving to death or being shot and huge numbers of people being killed in Gaza.
"The way in which Israel is now attacking the one area that has not been attacked until now, the humanitarian zone where they have a desalination plant, where they will be relying on it for water.
"Really, Israel needs to be pulled back from the brink. So, I think the question is, how do we stop this?"
Commenting on how the UK and its allies could get the attention of Israel, Ms Thornberry said there may be a time when Netanyahu might be persuaded to have a ceasefire "without being worried that the even further right than him wing of his government will pull the plug in this government."
"So, I think that is the time for Donald Trump, and its only Donald Trump that he listens to.
"Remember, there were planes on the way to Iran that got turned round in the air because Donald Trump said, "turn the planes around."
"So, he really is the only one that he listens to.
"I think Donald Trump has to be the one who says, "Stop now. Stop now. There has to be a ceasefire now."
"And I think that's the only influence that we can really have on Netanyahu is via Trump.
"Trump is coming to [the UK] play golf.
"So, what I would suggest strongly is that, I appreciate that Keir Starmer has a lot of things you may want to talk to the President of the United States about, but I would ask that some of our political capital be used in asking Trump to speak to Netanyahu to get them to stop this, because we can't witness this anymore, it has to stop."
Gaza's population of more than two million Palestinians are in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, now relying largely on the limited aid allowed into the territory.
Many people have been displaced multiple times.Hamas triggered the war when militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
Fifty remain in Gaza, but fewer than half are thought to be alive.
Israel's military offensive has killed more than 58,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not say how many militants have been killed but says more than half of the dead have been women and children.