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- Actors, musicians, activists appeal to PM to 鈥榚nd Britain鈥檚 complicity in horrors in Gaza鈥�
LONDON: Pop star Dua Lipa joined some 300 UK celebrities in signing an open letter on Thursday urging Britain to halt arms sales to Israel, after similar pleas from lawyers and writers.
Actors, musicians, activists, and other public figures wrote the letter calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to 鈥渆nd the UK鈥檚 complicity in the horrors in Gaza.鈥�
British Albanian pop sensation Dua Lipa has been vocal about the war in Gaza and last year criticized Israel鈥檚 offensive as a 鈥済enocide.鈥�
Other signatories include actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, and Riz Ahmed, as well as musicians Paloma Faith, Annie Lennox, and
Massive Attack.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 call it 鈥榠ntolerable鈥� and keep sending arms,鈥� read the letter to Labour leader Starmer, organized by Choose Love, a UK-based humanitarian aid and refugee advocacy charity.
Sports broadcaster Gary Lineker, who stepped down from his role at the BBC after a social media post that contained anti-Semitic imagery, also signed the letter.
Signatories urged the UK to ensure 鈥渇ull humanitarian access across Gaza,鈥� broker an 鈥渋mmediate and permanent ceasefire,鈥� and 鈥渋mmediately suspend鈥� all arms sales to Israel.
鈥淭he children of Gaza cannot wait another minute. Prime Minister, what will you choose? Complicity in war
crimes, or the courage to act?,鈥� the letter continued.
Earlier this month, Starmer slammed Israel鈥檚 鈥渆gregious鈥� renewed military offensive in Gaza and promised to take 鈥渇urther concrete actions鈥� if it did not stop 鈥� without detailing what the actions could be.
Last September, the UK government suspended 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel, saying there was a 鈥渃lear risk鈥� they could be used to breach humanitarian law.
Global outrage has grown after Israel ended a ceasefire in March and stepped up military operations this month, killing thousands of people in a span of two months, according to figures by the Health Ministry.
The humanitarian situation has also sparked alarm and fears of starvation after a two-month blockade on aid entering the devastated territory.
Over 800 UK lawyers, including Supreme Court justices, and some 380 British and Irish writers warned of Israel committing a 鈥済enocide鈥� in Gaza in open letters this week.
Israel鈥檚 military offensive launched in response to the October 2023 attack has killed 54,084, mostly civilians, in Gaza according to its health ministry, displaced nearly the entire population and ravaged swaths of the besieged strip.