London: Nearly 60 British Labour MPs have called on the UK government to immediately recognize Palestine as a state and act urgently to stop what they described as 'ethnic cleansing' in Gaza.

According to Anadolu Agency, the letter, organized by the Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East, was signed by 59 MPs from both centrist and left-wing blocs and sent to Foreign Secretary David Lammy. The MPs urged Lammy to take immediate action to halt Israel's reported plan to build a 'humanitarian city' of tents in the ruins of Rafah, in southern Gaza, warning that the plan amounts to the forcible transfer of civilians and the erasure of Palestinian presence.

The letter expressed urgency and concern regarding the Israeli defence minister's announcement of plans to forcibly transfer Palestinian civilians in Gaza to a camp in Rafah. The MPs described the plan as 'ethnic cleansing' and called for decisive action from the UK, including restoring funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), supporting hostage releases, and imposing a trade blockade on goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The MPs argued that not recognizing Palestine as a state undermines the UK's policy of a two-state solution and sets an expectation that the status quo can continue, leading to the effective erasure and annexation of Palestinian territory. The UK government, under the new Labour administration, has not yet formally changed its position on Palestinian statehood. The conflict in Gaza has persisted for ten months, with reports of mass displacement, infrastructure destruction, and the collapse of ceasefire negotiations.