Palestinians are seen at the beach as they use seawater to wash clothes, cooking utensils and clean up due to the water shortage. (Photo by: Mohammed Talatene/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)
The Daily Telegraph’s associate editor and part-time GB News host Camilla Tominey ignited an online firestorm after claiming “Britain has a death wish” if it accepts Gazan refugees caught in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Criticising the idea forwarded by Labour MPs, that the UK could take in Palestinians fleeing Gaza in a refugee scheme akin to the Homes for Ukraine program, Tominey wrote: “Regardless of their medical – or other – qualifications, we have no idea how many Gazans support their murdering, raping masters, or how many have been further radicalised by war.”
She continued: “We took in Ukrainians in part because we have a security agreement with Ukraine and can be fairly certain that none of those fleeing the Russian invasion are terrorists. Sadly the same cannot be said for occupants of a country run by Hamas.”
As Israel continues its assault on Rafah, in southern Gaza, more than 800,000 Palestinians
Added to this, the population continues to face humanitarian disaster as 1.1 million people face crisis-level food insecurity and an almost total health system collapse as key border crossings near combat zones remain closed or are unsafe for aid trucks.
Tominey’s article sparked immediate backlash among some media commentators and journalists. Commentator Owen Jones, who works for both Zeteo and The Guardian, blasted Tominey’s take as “frothing racism” and “bile.”
Meanwhile, Baffler’s Séamus Malekafzali said the article was reminiscent of something that would be posted on neo-Nazi forum Stormfront.
The ever growing humanitarian crisis continues to polarise even now, seven months into Israel’s military operation, initiated after the October 7 attack by Hamas which killed over 1,200 Israelis and resulted in the capture of 250 hostages, of which about 100 hostages remain captive in Gaza.