Many constituents have contacted me about the ongoing situation in Gaza. I wanted to give you an update on the action the government has taken and what I have been doing as your MP.
The scenes we are seeing are deeply distressing of children starving, of people risking their lives to access aid. It is shameful.
Israel suffered a heinous attack on October 7th and I condemn Hamas and its abhorrent treatment of the hostages but what we are seeing in Gaza is unjustifiable. The UN is warning of mounting evidence of famine and widespread starvation.
Ultimately, we need a ceasefire, the delivery of humanitarian aid and Hamas to release all the hostages. Since the outbreak of the conflict, the UK Government has acted on many fronts. This has included:
– Restoring funding to UNRWA, the UN agency providing relief and aid to Palestinians.
– Supporting the independence of international courts.
– Suspending arms export licences.
– Providing food and medical care to hundreds of thousands of Gazans.
– Working with Arab partners on a plan to ensure a reconstructed Gaza no longer run by Hamas.
-Suspended negotiations with Israel on a free trade deal.
On 30th July, the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK intends to recognise the State of Palestine in September subject to an assessment ahead of the UN General Assembly on whether certain conditions have been met. I wrote to the Foreign Secretary recently, alongside more than 200 other MPs to press for immediate recognition so I welcome this statement and I will keep the pressure up.
However, whilst important, recognition itself will not change the humanitarian situation right now on the ground and the most urgent need is for the Israeli Government to let aid in. I support the additional measures taken by the UK government to alleviate the humanitarian situation, including air drops of humanitarian supplies alongside Jordan, and evacuating children from Gaza and into British hospitals.
As your MP, I will continue to speak up for action. I have spoken in parliament on this situation multiple times. Most recently, in July, I urged the Government to condemn the new shameful Israeli aid system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (which they did) and act to get aid in. I am also a member of the International Development Committee where we continue to focus on the conflict, primarily the humanitarian situation and the need to uphold international humanitarian law. We produced a report on Israel and the Occupied Territory and made several recommendations to the government which you can read HERE. We also recently questioned the Foreign Secretary on the conflict and I also met him 1 to 1 to raise concerns -you can read the full transcript here of the former https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/16327/pdf/
I will continue to urge the UK Government to do all it can to secure a ceasefire, end the suffering we are seeing in Gaza and to secure the release of the hostages.
I will continue to keep you up updated on this important issue.
Kind regards,
Alice