Israeli official accuses UK minister of blood libel over Gaza aid worker killings

An Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson appeared to accuse a British minister of "blood libel" for suggesting that Israel has targeted Palestinian aid workers in Gaza.

Hamish Falconer, a Labour MP and Britain's minister for the Middle East and North Africa, posted on social media platform X on Saturday: "Aid workers need protection and must never be targeted."

He added: "Following Israel’s admission of responsibility for recent strikes on UN premises in Gaza, it must investigate all attacks that have killed aid workers, hold those responsible to account, and ensure this never happens again."

Hours later, Oren Marmorstein, a spokesperson for Israel's foreign ministry, shared the British minister's post and said: "Israel never targets aid workers. Israel targets terrorists only, and any other suggestion is pure blood libel and must be retracted."

He advised Falconer "to examine the investigations and accountability measures in all cases where the UK was responsible for the death of civilians during armed conflicts. We hope that the level of accountability would match that of Israel".

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Earlier this week, the Israeli military admitted it had killed Marin Valev Marinov, a Bulgarian employee of the UN Office for Project Services (Unops), with tank fire last month.

Marinov died in a UN compound in Gaza's Deir al-Balah on 19 March. Initially, the Israeli military claimed it had not attacked the site but, following an investigation, admitted on Thursday that its troops had killed Marinov.

The military said its troops had wrongly concluded that the UN building contained an "enemy presence".

Falconer appeared to reference this incident in his statement on Saturday.

Over 400 aid workers killed in Gaza

Israeli attacks have killed more than 400 aid workers in Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to the UN.

A Guardian investigation published in February found that more than 1,000 medical staff had been killed in the besieged enclave before January this year.

Falconer has not replied to Marmorstein's demand that he retract his statement.

The episode marks the latest in a series of minor spats between the British and Israeli governments.

Earlier this month, Labour MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang were refused entry by Israeli authorities to the occupied Palestinian territories on the grounds that they intended to "spread hate speech". The move provoked strong condemnation from British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

Last month, the family of a British aid worker killed by an Israeli drone strike in Gaza slammed the British government for refusing to release information about the attack gathered by a Royal Air Force (RAF) spy plane. 

James Kirby, a 47-year-old former British Army rifleman, was working in Gaza for the World Central Kitchen when he was killed last April in an Israeli targeted attack on a three-car aid convoy. He died alongside several others, including two other British veterans.

Israel's investigation a 'whitewash'

The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) told The Times it had footage from an RAF spy plane that was flying over Gaza trying to locate Israeli captives on the day of the strike. The MoD refused to disclose the footage, citing national security and defence exemptions.

In an interview with The Times, the Kirby family questioned why they were not allowed to be informed about what was filmed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had initially claimed the killing of the British aid workers last April was "unintentional". The Israeli military later dismissed two officers and reprimanded two senior commanders, saying a drone operator had mistakenly targeted the convoy.

But the Kirby family has slammed the military's investigation as a "whitewash" and called for an independent inquiry.

An MoD spokesperson told Middle East Eye last month that surveillance flights over Gaza "are unarmed, do not have a combat role and are solely focused on securing the release of the hostages".

"The UK controls what information is passed on and only information relating to hostage rescue is passed to the relevant Israeli authorities. We will only pass information where we are satisfied that it will be used in accordance with international humanitarian law."

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 51,495 Palestinians since the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023, the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

At least 2,062 Palestinians have been killed and 5,375 wounded since Israel broke the ceasefire on 18 March, the ministry added.

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