British Labour MP calls for ‘military action’ against Israel, then apologizes

A British Labour MP on Monday called in Parliament for “military action” against Israel, citing previous instances in which the UK has used force against alleged human rights abusers, then apologized for those remarks on Wednesday.

During a discussion on Gaza, MP Tahir Ali interrupted comments by Liberal Democratic MP Richard Foord on the need to disarm Hamas, saying, “On the issue of disarmament, should we not also be calling for Israel’s disarmament as well, given the atrocities that have been committed?”

Ali added, “Previous governments have intervened in the Middle East to take action to [combat] human rights abuses and protect international trade routes. Isn’t it about time that military action is taken against Israel also?”

Responding to Ali, Foord rejected the attempt to equate between Israel and the Hamas terror group, which, he noted, Britain designates as a “proscribed terrorist organization,” according to the UK Jewish Chronicle.

Ali, a member of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s party, also suggested last year that British troops be sent to Gaza to combat Israel. Since 2019, he has represented a constituency in Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city.

He doubled down on his recommendation of military force in a post on X on Tuesday.

“Previous Labour and Conservative governments have consistently justified military intervention across the Middle East, including in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen, on the grounds of preventing human rights abuses and protecting vital trade routes,” he wrote. “​Is it not time, therefore, that we consider equivalent action to prevent what international bodies have identified as a plausible genocide, and what this Government itself has recognised as the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people?”

He also repeated his calls for a British arms embargo on Israel.

But by Wednesday afternoon, that post, which included video of his initial call for an attack on Israel, had been deleted. Instead, Ali posted an apology for his call for military action, saying he does not support war in the Middle East. It was unclear what prompted the about-face.

“In Parliament on Monday, I wrongly gave the impression that I support the use of military force against Israel,” he wrote. “Those are not my views, and I apologise unreservedly. I do not support military action anywhere in the Middle East and have long been a campaigner for peace and conflict resolution.”

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UK's Labour MP Tahir Ali interrupted Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord, who said Hamas’s disarmament and dissolution must be part of any lasting settlement.

Ali asked why Israel should not be disarmed too, given what he… pic.twitter.com/jLQNXAyCpD

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 16, 2026

Ali’s comments came amid a deterioration in relations between Israel and the UK, after Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced last week that Britain would ban all dealings with West Bank settlements, as well as sweeping sanctions and a range of other punitive measures, due to what he charged was “ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank – perpetrated by settler terrorists.” Canada, France and other nations announced similar measures.

The new “comprehensive sanctions regime” is expected to take effect within six to nine months, with what Miliband called “appropriate religious exemptions.”

Israel’s government reacted with fury to the UK move and announced a series of retaliatory measures, including the closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem, which serves Palestinians. Other measures ordered by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar included the expulsion of UK representatives from an international Gaza support center and the termination of British activities to train Palestinian Authority security forces.

The West Bank has seen near-daily incidents of settler violence and harassment in recent months. Arrests are rare, and critics have accused the government of condoning or even encouraging the attacks.

Ali’s comments, made amid a discussion of the settlement boycott, were not the first time he has spoken of military action against Israel. In July 2025, he suggested to then-foreign secretary David Lammy that troops be sent to Gaza.

“Will the foreign secretary send military personnel to protect Palestinians from the genocide being committed by the IDF?” he said at the time, according to the Jewish Chronicle.

Opponents of Israel, including Ali, have accused it of committing genocide in the Gaza war, which was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Israel rejects the charge and insists it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities. It stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s population as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.