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A UK-based advocacy group for Israel has been criticised for suggesting a reduction in obesity resulting from the war in Gaza may increase life expectancy there.
The comments by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), which came amid warnings of impending famine in Gaza, were condemned as “sickening” by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).
UKLFI’s patrons include the former supreme court judge John Dyson, the former Conservative leader Michael Howard and David Pannick KC, who has represented Boris Johnson and the late queen.
The remarks were made by Jonathan Turner, the chief executive of UKLFI, in response to a motion due to be debated at the Co-operative Group’s annual general meeting calling for the retailer to stop selling Israeli produce.
Urging the Co-operative council to withdraw the motion, Turner criticised the fact that it refers to an estimated death toll of 186,000. In a letter to the Co-operative Group secretary, Turner wrote that it was “totally false and misleading” to cite the figure from a letter published by the Lancet last year, which was a projected figure including indirect casualties.
He adds: “The [Lancet] letter also ignored factors that may increase average life expectancy in Gaza, bearing in mind that one of the biggest health issues in Gaza prior to the current war was obesity.”
The death toll since Israel began its assault on Gaza after the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas on southern Israel stands at more than 52,000, according to the territory’s health authority. A separate study in the Lancet found life expectancy in Gaza decreased by 34.9 years during the first 12 months of the war, about half (-46.3%) the prewar level of 75.5 years.
Ben Jamal, the director of the PSC, said: “As children in the Gaza Strip face the growing risk of starvation, illness and death, the suggestion by the head of UK Lawyers for Israel that they might benefit from weight loss is utterly sickening. These repulsive comments illustrate exactly what it means to be ‘for Israel’ and how low its apologists are prepared to sink in their attempts to justify genocide in Gaza.”
Chris Doyle, the director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu), wrote on X that the comments represented “atrocious views”. He said: “How very kind of Israel to put 2.3 million Palestinians on an enforced diet to improve their obesity levels.”
A complaint by UKLFI led Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London to remove a display of artwork by Palestinian children in 2023 after the group claimed that it made Jewish patients feel “vulnerable, harassed and victimised”.
It has also threatened the UK government with legal action over its decision to suspend about 30 licences for the export of arms to Israel.
Turner said: “We first pointed out that the letter published in the Lancet on 20 July 2024, to which the motion evidently referred, did not claim that 186,000 Gazans had died in the current war. It did, however, claim – without foundation – that 186,000 Gaza would be likely to die eventually as a result of the war.
“So we pointed out, secondly, that this claim was based on entirely unfounded speculation, which also ignored factors that might result in lengthening the lives of Gazans, given the public health situation existing in Gaza prior to the war, including the extent of obesity. These factors include the possible reduction in the availability of confectionery and cigarettes.
“In the context in which they were made, our statements were accurate and objective.”
