LONDON: Israel’s actions in Gaza are “appalling and intolerable,” the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday amid growing international pressure to stop the slaughter of Palestinians.

Aid agencies and governments around the world have all condemned the killing of dozens of Palestinians this week as they tried to access food distribution sites in the decimated territory.

It follows growing opposition in Europe to Israel’s military campaign, with the UK, France, Germany and Italy becoming increasingly critical of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

“Israel's recent action is appalling, and in my view counterproductive and intolerable, and we have strongly opposed the expansion of military operations and settler violence and the blocking of humanitarian aid,” Starmer told MPs.

He said the UK and its allies were considering sanctions against Israel and that his government had already suspended talks on a free trade agreement.

That step was announced after the UK, France, and Canada issued a joint statement last month threatening "concrete actions” against Israel if it did not halt its military operation in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid into the territory.

France and Saudi Arabia are organizing a UN conference this month about a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel. France has already said it is considering recognizing the Palestinian state during the conference.

Starmer did not answer whether the UK would follow suit and recognize a Palestinian when asked in parliament Wednesday.

However, Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer told MPs that the government was reconsidering its position on Palestinian statehood, The Guardian reported.

Falconer said he was "appalled" by the killings of Palestinians this week as they gathered to approach a new aid distribution hub.

"We call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events for the perpetrators to be held to account,” he said.

Dozens of MPs from both the main political parties have signed letters in recent months calling for Palestine to be recognized.

Starmer is facing fierce criticism from within his own Labour Party to take a tougher line on Israel.

Labour MP Paula Barker said history "will not be kind" to his government unless action is taken.

”What more evidence do we need to call this exactly what it is? A deliberate policy of annexation and genocide," she said.

BOULDER, Colorado: The man charged with injuring more than a dozen people in Boulder, Colorado, who were demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, went disguised as a gardener and told police his initial plan was to kill them all.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, faces hate crime charges in federal court and multiple state charges, including attempted murder.
Soliman — whose first name also was spelled Mohammed in some court documents — yelled “Free Palestine” and threw two of 18 Molotov cocktails he was carrying Sunday, injuring more than half of the estimated 20 people demonstrating, police said. Authorities said Soliman shied away from his plan to kill the entire group but expressed no regrets about the attack.
Boulder County officials said Wednesday the number of victims climbed from 12 to 15, plus a dog. The Associated Press left an email message with prosecutors seeking more details on the newly identified victims and the dog.
Among those injured was a Holocaust survivor who did not want her name shared publicly, said Ginger Delgado of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, who is acting as a spokesperson for the family.
What’s next for the suspect?
Soliman was being held on a $10 million, cash-only bond. He is due back in a Boulder County courtroom Thursday. More charges are possible in federal court.
Public defender Kathryn Herold is representing Soliman. She declined to comment after Monday’s hearing, where he initially was charged, as is common with Colorado public defenders.
Soliman was living in the US illegally after entering the country in August 2022 on a visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. Soliman filed for asylum and was granted a work authorization in March 2023, but that also expired.
He was born in Egypt, spent 17 years living in Kuwait, and lived in Colorado Springs with his wife and five children, according to state court documents.
Soliman’s wife and children were taken into custody Tuesday by immigration authorities and were being processed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said a DHS official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Federal officials are investigating whether Soliman’s family knew about his plan, US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said. Soliman told authorities that no one, including his family, knew about his plan, according to court documents.
Noem said Wednesday that federal authorities will be cracking down on people who overstay their visas.
What was the motive behind the attack?
Soliman told police he was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people,” referring to the movement to establish and sustain a Jewish state in Israel.
Sunday’s attack at the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder, 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Denver, had been planned for more than a year and targeted what Soliman described as a “Zionist group,” authorities said in court papers charging him with a federal hate crime.
That charge carries a sentence of life in prison when it includes attempted murder. Colorado state charges include 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of using an incendiary device and 16 counts of attempted use of an incendiary device.
The attack came at the beginning of the Jewish holiday Shavuot, and as the Israel-Hamas war has contributed to a spike in antisemitism in the US. A week before the Boulder attack, a man who also yelled “Free Palestine” was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington.
Who are the demonstrators?
The people hurt in the attack are demonstrators with Run for Their Lives, a global grassroots initiative that started in October 2023 after Hamas militants in Gaza stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. Israel responded with military attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 52,000 Palestinians, the majority women and children, and arresting hundreds.
Through weekly walks, the Run for Their Lives group’s 230 chapters seek to raise awareness of the 58 people believed to still be in captivity in Gaza, said Shira Weiss, the organization’s global coordinator.
Police liaisons assigned to the victims said none were ready to speak with reporters. They include eight women and seven men, range in age from 25 to 88, and their injuries range from serious to minor.
No new details were released Wednesday about three victims receiving treatment at the UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.
After the attack, FBI director Kash Patel said the agency was investigating a “targeted terror attack” in Boulder.
Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said Tuesday he initially suspected terrorism. “There was no intent to hide what happened,” Redfearn said. “There was no intent to minimize or lessen what we later, within a couple of hours at the press conference, confirmed was terrorism.”