British MPs urge UN-led military intervention to stop genocide in Gaza

Five British MPs have written to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper urging the government to "urgently pursue UN-led military intervention" to stop Israel's genocide in Gaza.

The letter by independent MP Adnan Hussain has been signed by three of his fellow members of the parliamentary Independent Alliance - Ayoub Khan, Iqbal Mohamed and Shockat Adam - as well as Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George.

It follows a new report by the UN commission of inquiry on Palestine and Israel, which finds Israel has committed four of the five acts prohibited under the 1948 Genocide Convention, and that Israeli leaders had the intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a group. 

"The UK is a founding signatory of the Genocide Convention and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council," the letter reads.

"These positions are not ceremonial. They come with binding legal and obligations."

The letter says that the Genocide Convention obliges Britain to "prevent and to punish genocide".

The UN Charter, it adds, "authorises the Security Council to take enforcement measures, including military intervention, in cases where there is a threat to international peace and security".

'Multinational peace enforcement mission'

The letter argues that diplomatic avenues - including condemnation and humanitarian appeals - have been "tried and systematically ignored by Israel".

The MPs urge the government to table a Security Council resolution "authorising all necessary measures, including military action, to protect civilians in Gaza and halt genocide".

If the resolution is blocked, the letter it says, the UK must lead an initiative at the UN General Assembly to seek UN-authorised intervention.

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It adds that the government must begin "urgent consultations" with other countries "to prepare for a multinational peace enforcement mission capable of establishing protected zones, enforcing ceasefires, and guaranteeing humanitarian access."

Israeli forces have killed and seriously harmed an unprecedented number of Palestinians since 7 October 2023, mostly civilians, using heavy munitions in densely populated areas.

By 15 July 2025, 83 percent of those killed were civilians, the new UN report has found. Nearly half were women and children.

A Foreign Office spokesperson, responding to the UN report, told Middle East Eye on Tuesday that "any formal determination as to whether genocide has occurred should be made following a judgment by a competent national or international court.

"But as we've made extremely clear - what is happening in Gaza is appalling and we continue to call on Israel to change course immediately by halting its ground offensive and letting in a surge of humanitarian aid without delay."