Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said that Israel is breaking international law in Gaza with its blockage of aid deliveries. Mr Lammy said it was ‘appalling and unacceptable’ that Israel has been blocking aid deliveries into Gaza for two weeks and accused the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ‘starving children’. He urged Israel to let aid trucks carrying food, fuel and medicine for the 2.3million Palestinians back into Gaza. Israel announced it would be suspending the entry of all goods and supplies into Gaza, it announced on March 2, over a dispute around the timing of the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. ‘This is a breach of international law. Israel quite rightly must defend its own security. But we find the lack of aid – it’s now been 15 days since aid got into Gaza -unacceptable, hugely alarming and very worrying,’ Mr Lammy said in the Commons. ‘We would urge Israel to get back to the amount of trucks we were seeing – way beyond 600 – so Palestinians can get the necessary humanitarian support that they need at this time,’ he added, according to the Times. This is the first time Britain has made a judgement on whether Israel’s conduct in Gaza following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terror attacks is in line with international law. The British Foreign Office only previously said that there was a ‘clear risk’ that British weapons could be used ‘to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law’ as the UK suspended 30 arms licences to Israel in 2024. His comments were made in reply to Rupa Huq, the Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton, asking what consequences there would be for Israel’s ‘provocative action during Ramadan’, which ‘people are saying is a breach of international law’. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also accused Israel of being ‘in breach of international law’. It comes after the Israeli government and Hamas hit an impasse over how to proceed with their fragile ceasefire, which was supposed to enter the second phase earlier this month. As the 42-day first phase of the ceasefire drew to a close, Israel gave its backing to an extension it said was put forward by Donald Trump’s US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which would cover the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover. Hamas has repeatedly rejected an extension, instead favouring a transition to the truce deal’s second phase, which would see the release of all remaining hostages and a more permanent end to the fighting in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. ‘Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided that, from this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will be suspended,’ his office said in a statement earlier this month. ‘Israel will not accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages. If Hamas persists with its refusal, there will be other consequences,’ it added. Hamas slammed the move, saying in a statement that the ‘decision to suspend humanitarian aid is cheap blackmail, a war crime and a blatant coup against the (ceasefire) agreement’. On Saturday night, Mr Netanyahu announced that Israel is prepared to continue ceasefire talks based on a US proposal for the release of 11 living hostages and half of the deceased. In a statement on X, his office said: ‘Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an in-depth discussion this evening on the issue of the hostages, with the participation of the negotiating team and the heads of the security establishment. ‘Following the discussion, the Prime Minister instructed the negotiating team to prepare for the continuation of the talks as per the mediators’ response to the Witkoff proposal for the immediate release of 11 living hostages and half of the deceased hostages.’ The latest development came just a day after Hamas said it would release the last living American-Israeli hostage and the remains of four other dual-national hostages after receiving a proposal from mediators to continue negotiations on the second phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal. Edan Alexander, 21, who has been held for 525 days, will be released along with the bodies of four other hostages who died in captivity, Hamas has claimed. On March 15, Hamas said the release will only happen if Israel implements their ceasefire agreement, calling it an ‘exceptional deal’ aimed at getting the truce back on track. A senior Hamas official said long-delayed talks over the ceasefire’s second phase would need to begin the day of the release and last no longer than 50 days. Israel would also need to stop barring the entry of humanitarian aid and withdraw from a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt.