She wrote in her resignation letter: "My view has been that our policy in relation to the Middle East peace process 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."
Lady Warsi's resignation appeared to have caught No 10 by surprise, with Mr Cameron currently out of the country on holiday.
It comes amid growing unease among some Conservative MPs that the Government has failed to take a firmer line with Israel over its incursion into Gaza in the face of mounting Palestinian casualties.
Lady Warsi has signalled her own concern about what was happening in a series of comments on her Twitter feed in recent days.
In one she wrote: "Can people stop trying to justify the killing of children. Whatever our politics there can never be justification, surely only regret #Gaza."
In another just three days ago she said: "If there is a community meeting or protest in relation to Gaza happening near you I'd like to know, please tweet me the details."
Speaking to the Huffington Post UK website following her resignation, Lady Warsi said the UK had forfeited its role as an honest broker in the region and called for an immediate arms embargo on Israel.
"The British Government can only play a constructive role in solving the Middle East crisis if it is an honest broker and at the moment I do not think it is," she said.
Reacting to the news, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "The Prime Minister must speak for himself. He's been clear that he regards the violence in Gaza as appalling and has called repeatedly for a humanitarian ceasefire.
"As for the correspondence between him and Sayeeda Warsi, this is the first I've heard about it and it's entirely, of course, a decision for the Prime Minister."
He added: "The Government's position has been, has argued consistently in favour of peace rather than conflict and ceasefire rather than violence. We've done that at all levels, regardless of what party we're from in the coalition.
"There are differences of emphasis, longstanding differences of emphasis about how forceful the Government should be, and how forceful Britain should be in seeking to bring the two sides together.
"As you know, I've come to the view, unpalatable though I totally understand it must seem to people perhaps on both sides of the conflict, I see no short cut but in the long run for some kind of negotiation between Hamas, or the political leadership in Gaza and Israel."
Mr Clegg called for a greater role for the EU, saying it was an economic giant in the region which "acts like a political pygmy".
He said: "This is one of those heartrending issues that inflames passions and divides opinions and always has done and I suspect always will."
For Labour, shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said many people would support her reasons for resigning.
"Most reasonably-minded people across Britain will agree with the sentiments expressed by Baroness Warsi in her resignation statement today," he said.
"It is a sad reflection of the Prime Minister's misjudgment of the crisis in Gaza that this capable minister has felt the need to leave the Government.
"Labour has consistently opposed the Israeli incursion into Gaza and has repeatedly urged the Prime Minister to speak up and to speak out against the horrific loss of life witnessed in recent weeks, but he has so far failed to do so."
In her resignation letter, posted on her Twitter page, Lady Warsi expressed concern at the impact of changes in last month's Cabinet reshuffle on Government policy.
She pointedly described William Hague, who was moved from the Foreign Office, as "one of the finest foreign secretaries this country has seen", before adding: "There is, however, great unease across the Foreign Office, amongst both ministers and senior officials, in the way recent decisions have been made.".......................http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/foreign-office-minister-warsi-resigns-over-uk-governments-gaza-policy.1407226978
5/8/14
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