Stated that Israel has the right to cut off food and water

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Last edited on July 25, 2025

A claim on social media under Kier Starmers call to end the conflict in Gaza has sparked controversy as users claim he stated Israel had the right to cut off food and water two years ago.

The BBC States:

Sir Keir has faced criticism since appearing to say Israel had the "right" to cut off water and energy to Gaza.

He later clarified that he meant only that the country had a right to self-defence.

Owen Jones from The Guardian also covered this in more detail following Starmers comments

Facing an immediate and merited backlash, he sought to claim he had not said what he, in fact, had. “I was saying Israel had the right to self-defence,” he explained. “When I said ‘that right’, it was that right to self-defence. I was not saying Israel had the right to cut off water, food, fuel or medicines – on the contrary.”

While Owen is pushing his own narrative. To us, it seems pretty clear. Starmer DID say the comments, and then immediately retracted them on the same day. We think it's unfair to hound him 2 years later as if this is some kind of gotcha.

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What evidence supports this claim?

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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-67213191

This article goes into detail as to what was said. Supporting the claim. However, it does state that...

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News Article
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/05/keir-starmer-gaza-muslim-voters-labour

While it does have an Owen Jones spin on it. It does show the claim to be true and also Keir Starmer...

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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5HQYfsUAf3s

The video showing what Keir Starmer actually said on LBC. He does end the sentence stating that ever...

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8_sht6p_SQ

Video showing Keir Starmer refuting what he said

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