As Starmer resigns, Medical Aid for Palestinians urges successor to end UK complicity in Israeli atrocities

Rohan Talbot, Director of Advocacy and Campaigns at Medical Aid for Palestinians, said: "Keir Starmer, announcing his resignation today, claims he has stood by the rule of law during his premiership. But this international record will forever be marred by half measures and inaction in the face of Israel’s atrocities.

"Under Starmer’s leadership, the UK continued to provide arms to Israel while its forces bombed Gaza's hospitals into rubble and deliberately starved an entire population of the food and medicines they needed to survive.

"Today, there is not a single fully functioning hospital left in Gaza. Doctors and nurses have been killed, forced to flee, or left struggling to work without the supplies and safety they need. An entire generation of Palestinians are scarred by the physical and emotional toll of Israel’s ongoing genocide, apartheid and illegal occupation.

"Whoever walks into Downing Street next must do what Starmer would not to end these horrors: stop providing arms to Israel, stop trading with illegal settlements in the West Bank, guarantee unrestricted humanitarian access, and ensure that those responsible for crimes against humanity are held fully accountable.

"Respect for international law is measured by actions, not rhetoric. The next Prime Minister must not be an ally to atrocities.”

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Rohan Talbot, Director of Advocacy and Campaigns at Medical Aid for Palestinians, is available for interview on request. Please contact the press office to arrange at: [email protected] or +44 (0) 203 869 1310

A June 2026 Survation poll of Labour Party members, commissioned by Save the Children UK, Christian Aid, and Medical Aid for Palestinians as part of the Ally to Atrocities campaign, found that 78% support suspending all UK arms exports to Israel, 87% support banning trade with illegal settlements, and 58% said the Government's approach to Palestine would be a factor in choosing Labour's next leader.

Medical Aid for Palestinians works for a future where every Palestinian has access to a comprehensive, effective and locally-led system of healthcare, and the full realisation of their rights to health and dignity. We work in the occupied Palestinian territory and in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.