A joint statement called for an immediate ceasefire and said that “withholding essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable."

France has announced its intention to become the first member of the Group of Seven to recognize Palestine as a state. Ireland, Norway and Spain have already done so, breaking from a consensus within Western Europe and the US that the Palestinians should achieve statehood through negotiations with Israel.

There are 147 UN member states out of 193 that recognise the state of Palestine - but the UK is not one of them

More than half of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate called on President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday to conduct an independent investigation into the death of Saif Musallet, an American citizen beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.