I am appalled by the killings witnessed in Israel, Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I utterly condemn Hamas’ kidnap and murder of innocent Israeli civilians. I was alarmed to hear reports of the use of sexual violence in these attacks. We must do everything to secure the safe return of these hostages and bring those accountable to justice. I am very alarmed by the reports of war crimes since the 7th October and support calls for these to be investigated. 

All nations have the right to respond to acts of terror. All nations also have a duty to prevent the commission of war crimes in so doing. I condemn the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and the scale of the subsequent offensive, which has resulted in an alarming number of civilian deaths.

The Israeli Government’s decision to cut off energy, water and food to the entire civilian population, repeated orders for millions of people to leave their homes, and the routine bombardment of civilian personnel and infrastructure represent collective punishment which is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions. 

I echo the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, in calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, and for unrestricted access of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The scale of civilian casualties, including children, is truly horrifying and points to the urgent need for international cooperation to secure peace in the region. 

Whilst there is a growing global consensus on the need to end the slaughter, the UK has consistently blocked this from happening on a diplomatic and practical level. The UK government representative on the UN Security Council repeatedly abstained on motions calling for a ceasefire and increased aid to Gaza. UK representatives at the General Assembly voted against motions for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. 

I have joined nearly 100 MPs from eight political parties in signing EDM #1 calling for the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to help secure the immediate and unconditional return of Israeli hostages and release of Palestinian administrative detainees. They should urgently press all parties to agree to immediate de-escalation and cessation of hostilities. 

Amid the appalling civilian casualty count, it is incredibly distressing to see the high numbers of aid workers, health providers, and journalists who have lost their lives since October. In what has been the deadliest war for aid workers in the history of the UN, at least 224 aid workers have lost their lives. Gaza’s Ministry of Health has recorded the deaths of at least 484 health workers and its Media Office has stated that 140 journalists and media workers have been killed.

When three UK aid workers from World Kitchen Central were killed in cold blood on the 1^st April 2024, UK political leaders refused to even call for a proper independent investigation into their deaths, never mind suspend arms sales to the forces that killed them. It is disgraceful that the last government put Israel’s war above the lives of British citizens. There should be a full independent investigation into their deaths. 

I have signed EDM 284 which calls for the protection of journalists reporting on the events in Gaza, EDM 254 which calls for the creation of a short-term medical evacuation for children in Gaza, and EDM 327 which recognises the work of healthcare professionals in Gaza and supports calls for them to receive the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

Gaza has been pushed to the brink of a major famine and has been facing the most severe food crisis in the world. Children in Gaza have died from malnutrition and dehydration. IDF operations in Gaza have blocked the delivery of water, food, and fuel, wilfully impeding humanitarian assistance and apparently razing agricultural areas. Israeli officials have publicly expressed their aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water, and fuel. This starvation is not an act of God but a deliberate policy, supported by all those who have failed to call for a ceasefire or call out war crimes. 

A major limiting factor for aid delivery is the high tonnage of bombs being dropped on the area. However, there is seemingly no end to the mental gymnastics that western political leaders will engage in to avoid calling for the immediate and permanent ceasefire needed to prevent more mass civilian casualties and allow food trucks backed up outside Gaza to enter.  

Just days after the highest court in the world ordered Israel to ensure the unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the last government actually pulled funding from the UNRWA, which is the area’s primary humanitarian agency. This was on the basis of allegations which remain unevidenced to this day. Withdrawing vital aid from an entire population facing starvation because of the supposed actions of a few individuals is the very definition of collective punishment. I condemned this decision at the time and am relieved that our new Labour government has chosen to restore UNRWA funding. To support a besieged and starving civilian population.

On the 29th December 2023, South Africa made a submission to the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) to declare Israel in breach of its obligations to the 1948 Genocide Convention, alleging that “acts and omissions by Israel” in Gaza “are genocidal in character” and have been committed with “the requisite specific intent” to “destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and [ethnic] group”. South Africa asked the ICJ to issue Provisional Measures and order Israel to “immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza”.

On the 26th January 2024, the ICJ ruled in favour of South Africa’s case against Israel and ordered to take steps to prevent genocide in Gaza, to prevent and punish any incitement of genocide in Gaza and to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel was also obligated to report back to the court in one month on the actions it was taking to this effect. I welcomed the ICJ ruling on this issue but. Like others, I was dismayed that the judgement fell short of calling for a ceasefire. In my view, the only way to prevent genocide in the region is for an immediate ceasefire to take place.

On the 20th May 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) filed applications for warrants of arrest for senior leaders in Hamas and Israel. I support efforts to bring those who have committed war crimes to justice. This is another important legal case, which offers the possibility of breaking through what Human Rights Watch has called “the wall of impunity” that Israel has long hidden behind. Sadly, our former government responded by lodging an objection to this case to hold up its passage through the ICC. I have called on our current government to withdraw this objection.

I have long raised concerns about the UK government’s role in supplying military hardware to Israel, which may have been used against civilians in Gaza and potentially even against British citizens. I have signed EDM #177, calling on the government to halt arms sales to Israel and I also echoed these calls during a Westminster Hall debate on the 12^th December 2023. 

In February 2024, I joined more than 200 elected representatives to call for an immediate embargo on arms sales to Israel. The ICJ ruling means this is now not just a moral necessity now but a legal one. I was a signatory on Zarah Sultana’s letter urging the government to suspend arms sales in March 2024 and a principle sponsor on her King’s Speech amendment in July 2024 to end arms sales and uphold international law.

It seems increasingly clear that exporting military hardware made in Britain to be used in the mass slaughter of Palestinians and civilians from elsewhere is not just immoral but clearly illegal. It puts us on the wrong side of international law. If the government continues arming Israel now, they should be prepared to explain this in the Hague. 

I am concerned to hear reports of rising levels of Islamophobia and Antisemitism in the UK, and around the world. No one deserves to face hate or prejudice because of their religious beliefs and minority groups should not be targeted because of international conflict. Anyone who has suffered or witnessed Antisemitism is encouraged to contact the Community Security Trust. Anyone who has suffered or witnessed Islamophobia is encouraged to contact Tell Mama UK. These two organisations are involved in mapping hate crimes. 

As well as failing to push for a ceasefire, the last government did not do enough to help people leave the warzone. During the first few weeks of the conflict, I was contacted by constituents trapped in the occupied West Bank and unable to leave. I have also been contacted by at least one constituent whose relatives were unable to flee Gaza because there is nowhere for them to submit the biometric data our government requires of them. I’ve been glad to see families challenging this decision in the courts and winning. 

If you are a constituent and require assistance with leaving the territory or with family reunion, please reach out to my office at bell.ribeiroaddy.mp@parliament.uk.

Even as the bombs rained down on Gaza, the last government was actively seeking to close down routes for peaceful, democratic resistance to what is happening there. Its Anti-Boycott Bill would have prevented public bodies from taking a stand against companies that profit from war crime and human rights abuses, including in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Boycott tactics have been used throughout history to challenge abusive, discriminatory and illegal practices: from the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade to the fall of South Africa’s apartheid regime, and bus boycotts challenging segregation and racism in Jim Crow states of the Southern USA.

This legislation would have protected countries and companies involved in fossil fuels, the arms trade, and human rights abuses from facing democratic pressure for their actions. I am relieved that the last government was unable to pass it before they disintegrated.

UK recognition for a Palestinian state shouldn’t be treated as a prize at the end of peace negotiations. Treating Palestine and Israel as equal partners is a prerequisite for any just and lasting settlement. The UK government won’t be part of the solution until it recognises this. Labour’s 2024 manifesto committed us to “recognising a Palestinian state as a contribution to a renewed peace process”. I will push the government to follow through on this without further delay.

The last government’s response to the plight of Palestinian refugees driven from Gaza was typical of their punitive approach to people seeking safe passage in our country. I found this out for myself when my constituent attempted to apply for family members to join him in February. They were rejected because they could not provide the biometric data that the Home Office requires of them. By asking Palestinian refugees to apply in Ramallah, Jerusalem, or in a nearby country, the last government effectively told people they would have to travel through an active warzone to submit information. 

Refugees with relatives in the UK are trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare: they cannot enrol their biometrics because they cannot leave Gaza and they cannot leave Gaza because they cannot enrol their biometrics. 

When millions were displaced by Russia’s appalling invasion of Ukraine in 2021, the last government rightly had the Homes for Ukraine Scheme live in a matter of weeks. Yet they have refused to create a similar pathway for Palestinians with relatives already living in the UK. The Home Office has rejected every request from Palestinian refugees for biometric deferral and predetermination since the 7th October. Yet between 15th March 2022 and 7th December 2023, Ukrainian nationals could apply online without the need to do this until after reaching safety in the UK. 

It is important to state clearly that the one thing Palestinians want more than anything is a safe return to their homes, as is their human right. Sadly, the inordinate civilian death toll in this conflict means that many Palestinians simply will not be alive to exercise this right. In the debate on this issue on the 13th May 2024, I made my views on this very clear, calling once again for a ceasefire, an arms embargo against Israel, and the creation of a Palestinian family reunion scheme.

Israel’s incursions into Rafah, a city more densely populated than Paris or Mumbai, lent renewed urgency to ceasefire calls. As well as the serious likelihood of injury and death to a civilian population, this operation led to another forcible transfer of a civilian population: a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

Rafah is not just home to a vast number of Palestinian refugees displaced by the bombing and fighting but a vital conduit for humanitarian aid to enter a region on the brink of famine. The most recent offensive choked this off and has forced aid organisations to re-establish already fraught supply lines.

Even before a full-scale assault on the area, medical facilities were already overwhelmed. As of 10th May 2024, there were just three partially functioning hospitals in Rafah.

The last government should have taken every available option to stop this from happening. At the time, I condemned their failure to emulate the US’s decision to pause arms shipments to Israel. I have long urged the cessation of UK arms sales to Israel. I have also been clear that they need to take a much harder diplomatic stance towards this conduct by refusing to provide cover for Israel at the UN and supporting international efforts to bring war criminals from both parties to this conflict to justice.