FILE PHOTO: Israeli tanks stand on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, in Israel September 6, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File photo

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has not concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza but criticised "utterly appalling" civilian suffering there, in a government letter, ahead of a meeting between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Israeli president.

Israel has been widely accused of the crime, including by the world's biggest group of genocide scholars, over its nearly two-year campaign in the Palestinian enclave that has killed more than 64,000 people according to local authorities.

Israel rejects the accusation, citing its right to self-defence following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants that killed 1,200 people and resulted in the capture of 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

Starmer is due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog, a leader who has a largely ceremonial role, at Downing Street on Wednesday, his spokesperson said.

The Gaza war has strained Britain-Israel relations. The Israeli government is enraged by Britain's plan to recognise a Palestinian state and block Israeli officials from attending its biggest defence trade show this week.

Starmer is facing criticism from some of his Labour lawmakers for agreeing to meet Herzog, and who have been angered by the images of starving children in Gaza.

Asked whether the government's legal duty to prevent genocide had been triggered, David Lammy, Britain's foreign minister until Friday, wrote in a September 1 letter to a parliamentary committee that the government had carefully considered the risk of genocide.

"As per the Genocide Convention, the crime of genocide occurs only where there is specific 'intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group'," he said in the letter seen by Reuters.

"The government has not concluded that Israel is acting with that intent."

Lammy was foreign secretary from mid-2024 until Friday when he was replaced by Yvette Cooper and appointed deputy prime minister as part of a reshuffle.

His letter added: "The high civilian casualties, including women and children, and the extensive destruction in Gaza, are utterly appalling. Israel must do much more to prevent and alleviate the suffering that this conflict is causing."

The long-held British government position has been that genocide should be determined by courts.

(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti, Andrew MacAskill and William James, editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Alexandra Hudson)