UPDATE: The ongoing crisis in Gaza.
Following reports of an military attack on al Shifa hospital I have written to the the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary asking for the UK Government to take decisive action in response to the killing of aid workers in Gaza- which included three British Nationals. (See below)
The sustained attack on the al Shifa hospital and the military attack on World Central Kitchen aid workers has raised serious concerns regarding Israel breaching international humanitarian law.
This is particularly alarming as the World Central Kitchen has stated that they had coordinated the route of their aid convoy with the Israeli military, and the trucks were travelling in a deconflicted zone. The targeting and killing of aid workers is unmistakably a war crime and the UK government must guarantee definitive action for violations of international law. Analysis by the Al Jazeera Sanad Verification Agency has found that Israeli forces deliberately hit the three trucks in the WCK convoy.
Furthermore, it is scandalous that arms made in Britain may have contributed to not only the deaths of the seven aid workers yesterday, bringing the total to at least 196 aid workers killed, but nearly 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza. Yet despite voting for a ceasefire at the UN Security Council and receiving legal advice showing that Israel is committing war crimes, the UK government continues to refuse calls to ban arms sales to Israel.
I have joined colleagues in calling for a ban on arms sales to Israel- I have signed a letter by Zarah Sultana MP calling for arms exports to Israel be stopped and I have also raised this directly with the Secretary of State for Defence in November 2023.
The UN human rights chief Volker Turk has provided a report demonstrating that there is a ‘plausible’ case that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. Trucks full of food and aid remain backed up on the Egyptian border with Rafah, blocked from entering Gaza by a complex, bureaucratic and ever-changing series of Israeli checks. The airborne aid drops are proving both insufficient and dangerous, with reports of Palestinians dying as a result of trying to swim to pallets that have landed in the sea or crushed when parachutes fall or fail. As a direct consequence of the Israeli shelling of the aid trucks yesterday, there are now reports of aid ships bound for Gaza turning back.
UNRWA plays a vital role as the largest provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza, supporting 1.9 million internally displaced Palestinians across the region and is the only agency with the relevant structures and distribution network. It is mandated to support Palestinian refuges and protect their right to return home. Continuing to refuse the restoration of funding to UNRWA when our allies in Canada, France, Finland, Australia, Sweden and the EU have all restored funding is as illogical as it is inhumane.
Gazan’s are being starved at the fastest rate in our history. Half of Gaza are experiencing catastrophic food insecurity, over 1.1 million men, women and children. There are signs among children of acute malnutrition. Every day we delay, more lives will be lost to this man-made famine. Every day we delay is another that the UK government is complicit in this catastrophe. I have joined colleagues from across the House in signing a letter by David Jones MP in collaboration with Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) which called for the restoration of UK funds to UNRWA and on the UK government to put pressure on Israel as it continues to block full access of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Moreover, feeble calls for Israel to investigate its own actions are as shameful as they are ineffective. Condemning these potential violations of international law and the deaths of British citizens while doing nothing to stop it is a deeply cynical and untenable position.
There must be sustained international pressure to hold Israel to account where there have been clear breeches in international. Refusal by the UK Government to act now will be a dark moment in international relations. This will tell the world we hold no red lines when it comes to international law and the targeting of aid workers or our own citizens.
The UK Government must immediately reinstate funding to UNRWA to support aid efforts across Gaza, suspend arms sales to Israel and demand an immediate and lasting ceasefire. I will do all I can in Parliament to continue to press for this.
