Britain's first female Muslim Cabinet minister on Tuesday announced her resignation from the government over Britain's policy on Gaza.
Pakistani-origin Cabinet minister Sayeeda Warsi posted a message on Twitter stating, "With deep regret I have this morning written to the Prime Minister & tendered my resignation. I can no longer support Govt policy on #Gaza."
In her resignation letter, she writes, "My view has been that our policy in relation to the Middle East peace progress 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."
According to the Telegraph, Warsi had taken the position of Senior Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and Minister for Faith and Communities at the Department for Communities and Local Government.
She was previously Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio, having joined the Cabinet in 2010
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said the news was "very sad" and hoped she return "as soon as possible" to the government.
Nearly four weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas has claimed the lives of 1,900 Palestinians — most of them civilians. The war has also left 67 Israelis dead, all but three of them soldiers.
The rise of the Yorkshire born Briton Sayeeda Warsi to become the first Muslim woman named in a British cabinet gave Pakistan something to cheer about when she was appointed shortly after the failed Times Square bombing orchestrated by Faisal Shahzad in 2010.
Born into a modest family which migrated from Gujar Khan to Britain in the 1960s, Warsi has been involved in politics since her college days
Warsi runs five vocational training centres for orphaned girls in villages near Gujar Khan through a women's charity. Prime Minister David Cameron visited Gujar Khan with her in 2008.