Gaza war: Rishi Sunak pressed on whether Israel is upholding ‘proportionality’

During his appearance at the liaison committee today, Rishi Sunak was asked whether the “principle of proportionality” is being upheld by Israel in its bombing campaign in Gaza.

Alicia Kearns, chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said: “Foreign secretary [David Cameron], when he was prime minister, was quite happy to say where he felt that international law was being broken in Syria. Equally, James Cleverly was happy to say that war crimes taking place in Ukraine.

“So surely there is a precedent that you are able to say if you believe that too many civilians are dying, that bombings have been indiscriminate and, therefore, that the principles necessity and proportionality are not being upheld”.

Rishi Sunak responded by accusing Kearns of “putting words in my mouth”.

Kearns continued: “Where does the responsibility sit for too many civilians dying?”.

The PM said: “Well, I mean, again, ask Hamas why they embed themselves in civilian populations. I think that’s genuinely an extraordinary question”.

Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website, providing comprehensive coverage of UK politics. Subscribe to our daily newsletter here.