She wrote on her Twitter feed that she was leaving with “deep regret”, Asian Lite, a newspaper for the British-Asian community in London, reported.
Lady Warsi, daughter of a Pakistani immigrant and who was previously chairman of the Conservative Party, became the first female Muslim cabinet minister when David Cameron took office in 2010. Her departure will affect the Conservative influence among the Asians, especially the Muslims from Pakistan.
In her resignation letter presented to the prime minister, Lady Warsi said the British response to the crisis in Gaza will have a long term “detrimental impact on our reputation internationally and domestically”.
She appeared to suggest that Britain’s support for Israel could encourage extremism in Britain. Home Office evidence suggested that Britain’s response to the Gaza crisis risked “becoming a basis for radicalisation (that) could have consequences for us for years to come”, she wrote.
“With deep regret I have this morning written to the Prime Minister & tendered my resignation. I can no longer support Govt policy on #Gaza,” she tweeted Tuesday.
“For some weeks, in meetings and discussions, I have been open and honest about my views on the conflict in Gaza and response to it,” she wrote in her resignation letter.
“My view has been that our policy in relation to the Middle East peace process generally but more recently our 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 also suggested that the Israeli government should face international trial for alleged war crimes, but feared the British government would not support that position.
“Particularly as the minister with responsibility for the United Nations, The International Criminal Court and Human Rights, I believe our approach in relation to the current conflict is neither consistent with our values, specifically our commitment to the rule of law and our long history of support for international justice.”
Several backbench Conservative MPs have called on Cameron to take a more robust line with Israel amid concerns its actions in Gaza are “disproportionate”.
She added that the decision “has not been easy” but there is “great unease” within the foreign office over “the way recent decisions are being made”.
“I must be able to live with myself for the decisions I took or the decisions I supported. By staying in government at this time I do not feel that I can be sure of that,” she went on
London Mayor Boris Johnson, a fellow Conservative, told LBC Radio he had “great respect” for Lady Warsi, adding: “She has done a great job for us and I hope she will be back as soon as possible.”
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said it was no “secret” that there were different opinions over Gaza within the government and that Lady Warsi had “strong views” on the subject. Cameron, who is on holiday, is yet to respond.
Conservative MP Nicholas Soames tweeted that Lady Warsi had been “right to leave over a matter of such great importance”.
For Labour, shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said that most “reasonably minded people across Britain will agree with the sentiments expressed” by Lady Warsi, adding: “It is a sad reflection of the prime minister’s misjudgement of the crisis in Gaza that this capable minister has felt the need to leave the government.”
One of five daughters of Pakistani immigrants, Lady Warsi studied law at Leeds University, later working for the Crown Prosecution Service before setting up her own legal practice.
Meanwhile, a 72-hour humanitarian truce brokered by Egypt between Israel and Palestine went into effect Tuesday in the Gaza Strip.
The start of the truce at 8.00 a.m was preceded by a barrage of rockets from Gaza, with air raids sirens howling throughout southern Israel, including in the cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beersheba, as well as Jerusalem, Al Jazeera reported.
In the minutes before the truce, Israel launched air strikes on Gaza City and on southern and central parts of the Palestinian territory in response to the rockets.
Just before the truce came into effect, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced the withdrawal of all of its troops to “defensive positions” outside the Gaza Strip.
An IDF officer said that Israeli forces left Gaza before the start of the truce
Delegates from both sides had approved the truce late Monday in a round of phone calls.
During the 72 hours, an Israeli delegation is scheduled to arrive in Cairo to negotiate with the Palestinians.
Cairo is currently hosting a united delegation of various Palestinian factions, including Fatah, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, for talks on the Egyptian bid for a truce in Gaza.
The negotiations would focus on the Palestinian demand to remove the siege from the Gaza Strip, and to release 56 Hamas prisoners that Israel incarcerated following an operation in the West Bank in June after the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teens.
Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza, which started on July 8, has killed 1,820 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and over 10,000 injured, while Hamas attacks have also killed 64 Israeli soldiers and three civilians in the past four weeks.
Nearly 400 Palestinian children were killed and 2,500 wounded in the 29-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza strip, and 370,000 more are in need of urgent psychological care, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) reported Tuesday.
“The offensive has had a catastrophic and tragic impact on children. It has killed 392 children and 2,502 have been injured,” said Pernille Ironside, head of the Uniccef field office in Gaza.
Ironside also warned of an imminent outbreak of contagious diseases and diaorrhea – potentially deadly for children under five – in Gaza, where power has been knocked down and sanitation and potable water are non-existent.
She also stressed that there was not a single family who has not been directly affected by a loss in Gaza, a territory only 45 km long by between six and 14 km wide.
“Destruction is total. The weaponry used causes terrible, awful amputations. This happened before the eyes of children, they have seen their friends and their parents die,” said the official.
Unicef estimates that 370,000 children will need urgent psychological help to try to overcome the trauma they experienced.
Ironside said 142 schools in Gaza, including 89 run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), were damaged by the Israeli bombing, in addition to direct attacks against three UN schools.
She also highlighted the absence of equipment and material to build new schools, due to the blockade Israel imposes on the Palestinian coastal enclave.
A report published Tuesday by the Palestinian information ministry said 10,600 homes had been affected by the Israeli bombardments, of which 8,800 suffered damages and 1,724 were destroyed.
The report estimated economic losses at $1.6 billion, while Palestinian Public Works Minister Mufeed al Hasayne said $5 billion would be needed to repair damages to buildings and infrastructures. (IANS)
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