Keir Starmer resigned as British prime minister, according to Middle East Eye, less than two years after leading the Labour Party to a landslide general election win. His departure follows a sustained decline in Labour’s polling and renewed criticism from former cabinet colleagues over his government’s handling of relations with Israel during the war in Gaza. Middle East Eye reported on June 22 that Starmer’s record on the conflict featured prominently in assessments of his time in office.
Labour lost more votes to the left-wing Green Party than to the right-wing Reform UK at local elections last month, according to polling cited by Middle East Eye. A separate study found that over half of former Labour voters who now intend to back a centre or left-wing party named the war in Gaza as a factor in their decision, the outlet reported.
Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer’s predecessor as Labour leader, said the prime minister “swapped political principles for corporate donors” and would leave behind “a legacy of broken pledges, grotesque inequality and complicity in genocide,” according to comments given to Middle East Eye. Green Party leader Zack Polanski wrote on social media platform X that Starmer’s legacy included “supporting a genocide” alongside domestic grievances over river pollution and protest arrests.
Wes Streeting, who served as health secretary under Starmer, said in an interview with the News Agents podcast that the prime minister had accused him of circulating a dossier of alleged Israeli war crimes “for political purposes” so it could be leaked. “I had met British doctors, I had been distressed by what they told me, I had seen serious and substantial allegations of war crimes being committed and I felt this country had a moral and legal responsibility to respond,” Streeting said.
Starmer’s government suspended around 30 export licenses for British-made arms to Israel in September 2024, citing a “clear risk” the equipment could be used in violation of international humanitarian law, Middle East Eye reported. Licenses for F-35 components sent directly to Israel were included in the suspension, but parts destined for a global F-35 spare parts pool were exempted, since UK-made components make up 15 percent of every F-35 jet.
David Lammy, who served as foreign secretary under Starmer, told Parliament that “much of what we send is defensive in nature,” referring to equipment such as helmets and goggles. A report by Byline Times found the shipments included 8,630 separate export licenses in the category of bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions, according to Middle East Eye.
The UK approved $169 million in military goods exports to Israel within three months in late 2024, more than the total approved under the previous Conservative government between 2020 and 2023, Middle East Eye reported, citing government data.
Under Starmer, the UK conducted at least 518 surveillance flights over Gaza, according to data obtained by the investigative outlet Declassified UK. The government said the flights were intended “solely to locate hostages.” Middle East Eye reported that Britain shared intelligence gathered from the flights with Israel, including on days when British nationals were killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza.
Rohan Talbot, director of advocacy and campaigns at Medical Aid for Palestinians, said Starmer’s “international record will forever be marred by half measures and inaction in the face of Israel’s atrocities,” in comments reported by Middle East Eye on Monday. “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,” Talbot said.
Regional and global impact
The polling data cited by Middle East Eye indicates that Gaza policy contributed to Labour’s loss of support among left-leaning voters ahead of the next general election. The Israeli government reacted with anger when Britain dropped its objection to International Criminal Court jurisdiction over Israel and sanctioned far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, according to the outlet. Israel also responded with anger when the UK formally recognized Palestinian statehood in September 2025, Middle East Eye reported.
Background
Israeli forces have killed nearly 73,000 Palestinians since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people, according to Middle East Eye. At least 170,000 Palestinians have been wounded in the conflict. Starmer initially backed Israel’s right to self-defense as opposition leader, telling LBC radio on October 11, 2023, that “Israel does have that right” when asked about a siege of Gaza, though he later said he had not meant to endorse cutting off water, food, fuel or medicine. His government banned the activist group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization in July 2025, a decision a High Court judge ruled “unlawful” and “discriminatory” in February before the Court of Appeal overturned that ruling last week. Around 2,000 British-Israeli dual nationals have served in the Israeli military during the war, a right the government has formally recognized in parliamentary written answers.
What happens next
Middle East Eye reported that Starmer’s successor as prime minister has not yet been determined and may pursue a different approach to relations with Israel. Labour faces continued pressure from backbench MPs to expand the arms embargo and ban the import of settlement goods, according to the outlet. The Court of Appeal’s ruling on Palestine Action’s proscription remains in effect following last week’s decision, with co-founder Huda Ammori’s legal challenge having been the basis for the overturned High Court ruling.
