SCOTTISH Labour’s Anas Sarwar has branded Keir Starmer’s claim that Israel had “the right” to cut off water and power to Gaza “hurtful” – but also insisted his boss “never” actually meant that.
The Holyrood group leader made the comments in an interview with the Daily Record, in which he responded to a statement made by Starmer during an interview with LBC earlier in October.
In the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, the Labour leader told LBC radio: “Israel has the right to do everything it can to get those hostages back safe and sound. Hamas bears responsibility.”
Starmer was further asked: “A siege is appropriate? Cutting off power? Cutting off water?”
He responded: “I think Israel does have that right.”
The Labour leader was widely criticised for his comments as they appeared to amount to supporting a war crime – namely the collective punishment of people in Gaza for the actions of Hamas.
The party saw resignations of councillors over the issue, who accused Starmer of “horrific and dehumanising rhetoric” in “accepting Israel’s right to carry out collective punishment”.
However, Labour have insisted that Starmer never actually meant to say what he did. Speaking to ITV amid the backlash, the Labour leader claimed: “I was not saying Israel had the right to cut off water, food, fuel or medicines.”
Keir Starmer is lying. “A siege is appropriate? Cutting off power? Cutting off water?” Starmer: “I think Israel does have that right.” https://t.co/9kakXVGkjj pic.twitter.com/5LuIKWn5Y1
— Ross Colquhoun (@rosscolquhoun) October 23, 2023
That was a position Sarwar echoed while speaking to the Record.
Asked about the LBC interview, the Scottish Labour boss said: “It was hurtful and I think he would accept it was hurtful. He accepts that it is not his position, and it never was his position.
But [that] language, framed as it was, did cause hurt.
“Perhaps that could have been, and should have been, clarified sooner.”
Sarwar added: “I know how much he is hurt by the LBC interview that has been obviously shared relentlessly amongst many communities.
“He accepts his own mistake in terms of his response around that LBC interview.”
Speaking to the BBC last week, Sarwar said that Israel cutting off supplies to Gaza was a "clear breach of international law".
"There is no justification for the withholding of essential supplies; water, electricity, medicine and food from the people of Gaza," he said.
Sarwar also told the Record he was struggling to sleep amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, saying: “I know how heartbroken I am. I know how emotionally distraught I am. I know about the struggle to sleep, the emotional toll.
“I can only imagine how much more difficult it must be for those people that actually have family that live in Gaza, the West Bank or indeed in Israel. My heart goes out to them. It's absolutely horrifying.”
