MORE than 800 child health professionals have demanded Sir Keir Starmer put an end to Britain’s complicity in Israel’s war crimes.

In an open letter, paediatricians, doctors and academics called on the Prime Minister to end all arms export licences to Israel and impose immediate sanctions until it complies with international law.

“We continue to hear first-hand accounts, from British healthcare professionals, of the war crimes being committed by the Israeli Defence Forces, and the catastrophic health crisis affecting both the physical and mental health of children and their families,” the letter reads.

“As British citizens, how can we live to tell the tale to our children and grandchildren that we just watched innocent lives being lost?"

The letter, which has received support from children’s aid workers, charities and MPs, including Richard Burgon and Imran Hussain, will be handed into Downing Street today.

At least 44,000 people have been murdered by Israel since the Hamas attacks on October 7.

Although a study in the Lancet medical journal estimates the true number could be as high as 186,000, taking into account deaths from the destruction of infrastructure such as health facilities and bodies buried under the rubble.

In a UN analysis of verified victims that were killed in the first six months, 44 per cent were children.

According to Oxfam, more women and children have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli military over the past year than in any other conflict over the past two decades. 

Israel’s bombing has targeted schools, hospitals and so-called “safe zones.”

Attacks on one designated zone, al-Mawasi, in July, saw 2,000lb bombs dropped on civilians using planes that are in part supplied by Britain.

Components for the lethal F-35 jet continue to be exported to Israel, despite the government acknowledging in the High Court in September that there is a “clear risk” they will be used to violate international humanitarian law.

There are 79 companies registered in Britain that hold licences to export parts for the jet.

Israeli forces have besieged the north since the beginning of October, leaving tens of thousands of children unable to access food or medical supplies. 

An Oxfam spokesperson said: “The apocalyptic living conditions — with virtually no semblance of normal life left or people in Gaza — are because the systematic destruction of Gaza has been allowed with full impunity, humanitarian access has been obstructed and aid workers targeted.

“The UK government must use all of its influence to help deliver an immediate and permanent ceasefire and halt all arms exports to Israel, to end the UK’s complicity in this humanitarian catastrophe.”