London (Quds News Network)- About 60 Labour MPs have urged the UK to immediately recognise a Palestinian state and warned they believe Gaza is being ethnically cleansed after Israel’s Defence Minister announced plans to force all residents of Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah city. The MPs, who include centrist and leftwing backbenchers, sent a letter to the Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Thursday, urging him to take immediate steps to prevent the Israeli government from carrying out its Rafah plan, and to go further and recognise Palestinian statehood immediately. The letter was sent just after the French president, Emmanuel Macron, made a similar plea at a joint press conference with Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister. The MPs wrote: “It is with great urgency and concern that we are writing to you regarding the Israeli defence minister’s announcement on Monday of his plans to forcibly transfer all Palestinian civilians in Gaza to a camp in the ruined city of Rafah without allowing them to leave.” They added: “The defence minister’s plans have been described by a leading Israeli human rights lawyer, Michael Sfard, as ‘an operational plan for crimes against humanity. It’s about population transfer to the southern tip of Gaza in preparation for deportation outside the strip.’” “Though an accurate description, we believe there is a clearer one. The ethnic cleansing of Gaza.” Israel Katz announced last week an Israeli plan to forcibly concentrate Palestinians into a so-called “humanitarian city” built over the ruins of Rafah. “Our goal is to push them toward emigration,” he noted. In a press briefing, Katz said the Israeli army is preparing to transfer around 600,000 Palestinians from the al-Mawasi area into the new encampment. Entry into the area will be permitted only after security checks, and residents will not be allowed to leave. “Our goal is to push them toward emigration,” Katz said. He described this as Phase One of a broader Israeli strategy to control Gaza’s population after the war. He said the city would be secured remotely by Israeli forces, but Israel would not distribute food or directly manage the area. Instead, Katz said Israel hopes to bring in international actors to oversee the population. Katz confirmed Israel’s long-term goal: to facilitate the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza. He said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is already in talks to find third countries willing to accept them. “The migration plan must be implemented,” Katz declared. Katz’s plan has raised alarm among human rights groups and Palestinians who say Israel is using the war to advance ethnic cleansing and remove native residents under the guise of security and humanitarian aid. The MPs' letter calls for ministers to take five different measures. The government is already pursuing some of those, such as providing funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa. Others include imposing a trade blockade on Israeli settlements in the West Bank and immediate recognition of Palestinian statehood. “By not recognising [Palestine] as a state, we undermine our own policy of a two-state solution and set an expectation that the status quo can continue and see the effective erasure and annexation of Palestinian territory,” the MPs warned. Several European countries have already granted recognition, while France, which has not yet done so, has recently been putting pressure on Britain and other allies to do so. Speaking at the end of his three-day state visit to the UK this week, Macron said: “Calling today for a ceasefire in Gaza without any condition is telling the rest of the world that for us as Europeans, there is no double standard. As we are attached to human lives, as we are attached to territorial integrity, we want the ceasefire, no discussion.” He added: “Today, working together in order to recognise the state of Palestine and to initiate this political momentum is the only path to peace.”