I took part in a debate on the government’s genocide risk assessment in Gaza. Since Israel launched its offensive in 2023, we have seen actions which clearly constitute a genocide: targeted attacks on civilians and journalists, the forced displacement of people from their homes, the obstruction of humanitarian aid, the weaponisation of starvation and the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and universities.

More than 70,000 people have been killed, with entire bloodlines wiped out. Yet the government still refuses to designate what is happening in Gaza as a genocide. When governments avoid the term genocide, it is not because facts on the ground are unclear. It is because the implications are inconvenient. They would require us to stop arms sales and suspend military cooperation, for instance. History will not describe what is unfolding in Palestine as a war, an invasion or just an occupation; it will describe it as a genocide.