LONDON — UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting circulated a 22-page dossier containing graphic testimony and images from Gaza doctors to cabinet colleagues in July 2025 and faced internal criticism for his advocacy on the war, according to disclosed WhatsApp messages. The messages, released in compliance with a parliamentary order, reveal tensions within the government over Streeting’s efforts to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Streeting shared eyewitness accounts from three doctors, including two surgeons from prominent London hospitals, describing severe conditions in Gaza’s medical facilities. The dossier included photographs of children and babies suffering from acute malnutrition and amputated limbs. One doctor reported operating on up to a dozen children daily without adequate pain relief, while others stated that half of all casualties were children and that they had never witnessed such extensive trauma to young patients in previous war zones.
Streeting said he was “horrified by the war in Gaza.” He said he felt he was “hitting up against a brick wall” when raising his concerns within government. He emphasized his longstanding position supporting both Israel’s right to defend itself and Palestinians’ right to their own state. “I’ve always supported Israel’s right to defend itself and Palestinians’ right to a state of their own,” he said. “I was proud to be part of the government that eventually recognised a Palestinian state, but we took far too long to get there.”
Former minister Peter Mandelson criticized Streeting’s intervention in private messages exchanged with Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden. Mandelson described Streeting’s communication as “a wild long hysterical message from Wes about Israel” and called his actions “pathetic,” adding, “I think Wes is experiencing an early mid-life crisis.”