2nd lead
A senior Foreign Office minister, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, resigned on Tuesday, in protest at the UK government's policy regarding the Gaza conflict.
Warsi said in her resignation letter to Prime Minister David Cameron that the government’s “approach and language during the current crisis in Gaza is morally indefensible, is not in Britain’s national interest and will have a long term detrimental impact on our reputation internationally and domestically”.
She said the UK’s stance was “not consistent with the rule of law and our long support for international justice”, adding that “the British government can only play a constructive role in solving the Middle East crisis if it is an honest broker and at the moment I do not think it is.”
In an interview with the Huffington Post, Warsi called for a halt in arms exports to Israel.
“It appalls me that the British government continues to allow the sale of weapons to a country, Israel, that has killed almost 2,000 people, including hundreds of kids, in the past four weeks alone. The arms exports to Israel must stop,” Warsi said.
“Our position not to recognise Palestinian statehood at the UN in November 2012 placed us on the wrong side of history and is something I deeply regret not speaking out against at the time,” she added.
The deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, added to the growing criticism of Israel's offensive into Gaza, calling for arms export licenses to the country to be suspended.
Israel had "overstepped the mark," said Clegg.
Ceasefire holds
The 72-hour ceasefire appeared to hold in Gaza on Tuesday, as Israel announced it had withdrawn all of its ground troops from the region.
Israeli radio stations said on Tuesday that the IDF had completed its mission to destroy tunnels, used by Palestinians transport goods and launch attacks on Israeli territory.
The cessation of hostilities is to be followed up by talks in Egypt.
A Hamas official in Cairo, Bassam Salhi, said it was "clear now that the interest of all parties is to have a ceasefire. It's going to be tough negotiations because Israel has demands too."
Israeli government spokesman, Mark Regev, said: "Israel will honour the ceasefire and will be watching to see if Hamas does too."