HUMAN rights groups called on David Lammy today to clarify his understanding of genocide following comments he made on Gaza.

Last week, the Foreign Secretary said that the term genocide is “largely used when millions of people lost their lives in crises like Rwanda, the second world war, the Holocaust, and the way that they are used now [regarding Gaza] undermines the seriousness of that term.”

Thirty-seven organisations, including the British Palestinian Committee (BPC), today said his focus on death tolls appeared to show “a dangerously misguided understanding of the crime.”