Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation

Tuesday 19th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Sir Roger Gale in the Chair]

10:24

[Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow West) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I do not intend to take up too much time in today’s debate as I hope that as many colleagues as possible will have time to speak. The issue concerns us all, so it is right that we all have the opportunity to make a contribution.

As we know, it is just over 400 days since the horrific events of 7 October when over 1,200 people were killed in Hamas attacks in Israel. Over 30 of the hostages taken that day are believed to be still in Gaza. It is beyond time that they were released and returned to their lives and families. It was of course the events of 7 October that triggered Israel’s attacks on Gaza and the humanitarian crisis we are debating here today. An official death toll of some 43,391 people, of which 16,500 are children, with 10,000 people missing and presumed dead, are shocking statistics, and 72% of those killed are women and children. The Lancet has recently published a report that suggests that the death toll may be closer to 186,000. It has almost got to the point where the numbers are so overwhelming that we are in danger of becoming inured to what they represent.

A few weeks ago, with other colleagues, I attended a presentation that brought home exactly what those numbers and statistics mean. The presentation was given by Professor Nizam Mamode, a volunteer surgeon working with Medical Aid for Palestinians. The event was organised by my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed). Professor Mamode is a vascular surgeon of great experience who has worked in numerous war zones and has recently been in Palestine. I thought I had seen and heard it all: the death, disease and sheer brutality reported on our TV screens night after night. But then I went to Professor Mamode’s presentation. He spoke calmly and slowly about his experiences in Palestine, using slides and a video diary, and demonstrated the symmetrical puncture wounds on a dead child’s body—wounds in the region of the body’s major arteries that were too precise to have been the work of a human sniper. They were the work of drones targeted at innocent civilians, and in this case a child.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. The intolerable humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the west bank is precisely why we need an immediate ceasefire and a surge of aid. The recent reports of Israeli troops bombing and clearing northern Gaza and then not allowing Palestinians to return to their lands is surely tantamount to ethnic cleansing and is utterly deplorable. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is up to the international community, including our Government, to call out the Netanyahu regime so that it stops such actions?

[Patricia Ferguson]

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. The situation is of course getting worse rather than better as we watch the actions in northern Gaza unfold. The presentation that some of us observed from Professor Mamode was heart-rending in many ways. He also spoke about not having medicines or anaesthetics for people, including children having major surgery. The children were being operated on in hospital beds, the adults on the floor. He also spoke about the young intensive care doctor he knew who contracted hepatitis A and died because of the lack of a relatively straightforward medication. As a colleague said that night, the silence of the room at the end of Professor Mamode’s presentation was powerful.

[Kirsteen Sullivan (Bathgate and Linlithgow) (Lab/Co-op)]

I would also like to thank Dr Mamode and his colleagues for the incredible bravery and compassion that they have shown to those living in desperate circumstances. They have not only shown immense care but worked tirelessly to shed light on the plight of those people, as we saw in his testimony to last week’s meeting of the International Development Committee. Does my hon. Friend agree that the absolute horrors of treating children and adults without the medical basics, such as swab sanitisers or even anaesthetic, cannot continue and there must be safe routes for medical provisions to enter Gaza? Does she also agree that there must be a future with long-term physical and mental health support?

[Sir Roger Gale (in the Chair)]

Order. Interventions are interventions, not speeches. As the hon. Lady can see, there are quite a lot of Members who wish to participate in this debate. We cannot have speeches under the guise of interventions.

[Patricia Ferguson]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to talk about the heroism, frankly, of people like Dr Mamode. I recall that, when showing us a short video from his video diary, he pointed out that the noise in the background was the noise of drones. Medical staff are not exempt from these attacks, nor are civilian people who are there helping with the humanitarian effort. So, we do have to speak about that bravery.

To have someone like Dr Mamode, who has experienced that horror at first hand, who has given up his own time to try to help and who clearly despairs, was something that I do not think any of us who were present will ever forget. For me, it was the cold calculation of using machines to kill children, as though it was some kind of warped video game, that was the most disturbing aspect of Professor Mamode’s presentation, and which made those statistics that I spoke about earlier mean a great deal.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making an incredibly powerful speech. We also heard evidence from a Médecins Sans Frontières medic who reported similar atrocities being experienced. Last week, international lawyers said that this had gone beyond the realms of self-defence by Israel. On the unilateral move the Knesset has made to stop the United National Relief and Works Agency’s activity in Gaza, how does my hon. Friend think we as a Government can respond to that?

[Patricia Ferguson]

My hon. Friend makes a very valid point that I was just about to come to, so it is very timely. I think our Government have to work very hard with the international community to try to find a way—and hard it will be—to bypass the Israeli Government and ensure that we manage to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. We already know that some of the aid convoys have been disrupted in recent times since the Knesset decision, and we have to find ways of getting that aid in. The aid is there, but it is being stopped, it is being looted and it is being prevented from getting to those who need it.

[Dawn Butler (Brent East) (Lab)]

We are all moved by these stories, and when we see the pain in the eyes of the children, we think: where has our compassion, our humanity, gone? There have also been some reports that aid has gone into schools, for instance, and those schools have then been bombed, so therefore there is no aid. Does my hon. Friend agree that we have to be serious about ensuring that this crisis ends soon?

[Patricia Ferguson]

I agree with my hon. Friend that we have to redouble our efforts, and we have to do more than just talk about what is happening in Gaza; we have to act to ensure that this comes to a conclusion as quickly as possible.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

I thank my good and hon. Friend for giving way, and I congratulate her on securing this very important debate. “Hopeless, Starving, and Besieged” is the title of a new report from Human Rights Watch, which refers to 1.9 million Palestinians being forcibly displaced. So, does she think that the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor should see this action as a crime against humanity and look at imposing targeted sanctions immediately, alongside the humanitarian aid going in?

[Patricia Ferguson]

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. With the news that the Israeli Government have banned UNRWA from working in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, and that even conversations between UNRWA staff and Israeli officials will be banned, the 2 million people who are currently dependant on UNRWA aid are made even more vulnerable as winter approaches, especially because, as she said, most Palestinians have been displaced at least once, if not more often, and many are now living in makeshift tents. And when I say “tents”, I emphasise that they are not “tents” as we understand tents to be; they are collections of fabric, cardboard and anything that can be scrounged or scavenged, assembled to try to give some shelter to very vulnerable families.

So, it is incumbent upon us as a country to do everything we can to end this carnage and to help those most in need. I hope that today the Minister here in Westminster Hall might be able to tell us that the UK will vote to support a ceasefire when the resolution comes before the UN Security Council later today.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for securing this debate. I think we can all agree that the number of children involved in this conflict, particularly the 16,000 children who have been killed, is just absolutely horrific. The UK has suspended some arms licences to Israel, but in light of the violations of humanitarian principle and law that she has talked about, including the conditions in hospitals and so on, does she agree that a total suspension of arms to Israel is now called for?

[Patricia Ferguson]

I thank my friend for that intervention. The shocking aspect of the statistics is that the figure of 16,000 children who have been killed does not refer, of course, to those children who have been maimed. I would personally like to see more of those young people, or at least some of those young people, being able to come to Europe, including to Britain, to receive treatment, because their injuries are severe and often they have not received the treatment that they needed at the time of surgery. Their situation is dire, but we could help to make it less dire; indeed, we could make it easier for those young people to live good lives in the future and to be able to achieve everything they are capable of. So, I think we have to look at every opportunity and I hope that the Government keep under review the situation regarding the sale of arms to Israel, and that they will, when the time is right, make that decision.

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way; she is making a very powerful case and many of us share her deep concern for the children in Gaza. Does she recognise, as I do, that the time has probably now come for the UK to use its full range of diplomatic powers to express its concerns, particularly regarding the comments in the last 24 hours by Finance Minister Smotrich, who has called for Israel to permanently occupy Gaza as a means of getting the hostages home? The hostage families do not want that; Israeli communities oppose it. So, does she agree that it is time for us to stand with all those Israelis and Palestinians against that kind of extremist language, because it does not help the people of Gaza and it will not end this crisis?

[Patricia Ferguson]

I agree with my hon. Friend; that kind of language does not help the people of Gaza, or the hostages. That is the message that many of the hostage families have been trying to get across. There have been massive protests all through this horrible period. Indeed, at the weekend, despite the fact that demonstrations have apparently been restricted to 2,000 people at a time, there were demonstrations where exactly that kind of point was being made and where many Israeli people were criticising those members of their own Government in a way that perhaps has not been heard before.

I was about to say that it would be helpful if the Minister could give us an indication of when sanctions against Smotrich and Ben-Gvir would be introduced.

[Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Ind)]

I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for securing this very important debate. In particular, she is absolutely right to set out the horrific, indeed unimaginable, humanitarian situation facing the Palestinians. She is also right to point out the role of the Security Council; indeed, there is a vote on this situation today. However, she will be aware that the Security Council has passed a number of resolutions. We have had an interim ruling from the International Criminal Court and a number of rulings from the International Court of Justice, notably the most recent one, adopted by the General Assembly, which places our Government under an obligation. The reality is that all that is falling on deaf ears. Does the hon. Lady agree that the time for talking is over and that we need real action, starting with immediate sanctions?

[Patricia Ferguson]

I think the hon. Member will accept that I have said that there should be sanctions, particularly against Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, but I also think that we have at this point—perhaps we should have done it sooner—to formally accept Palestinian statehood and argue for that.

The city of Glasgow, my home city, has for many years been twinned with Bethlehem. As we approach the season of advent, I recall the image of the Christmas crib created last year by the Evangelical Lutheran church in Bethlehem: instead of the traditional stable, images of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus were placed among the rubble. That was the reality for most Palestinians then, and of course the situation is so much worse now. In fact, Professor Mamode, whom I mentioned earlier, described the scenes in Gaza as he travelled down from Israel as looking like descriptions he had read of Hiroshima after the explosion of the atomic bomb.

We have to hope, pray, work hard and use everything in our power to try to end this seemingly endless cycle of violence, horror and despair, but it will end only if Governments stand together and advocate for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. A two-state solution, rooted in peace and respect, must follow, and we must also commit to assisting with the rebuilding of Palestine. I thank you, Sir Roger, and all those who are going to speak in the debate. I hope that we see a resolution before too long.

[Sir Roger Gale (in the Chair)]

Could those who wish to speak in the debate remain standing for a quick headcount? [Interruption.] We are going to put a three-minute time limit on immediately, and that may have to be reduced. I am conscious of the fact that some people have intervened, and I am assuming that those who have intervened do not intend to speak. Priority will be given to those who have not intervened.

14:47

[Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley) (Ind)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I thank the hon. Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) for securing this crucial debate.

As the Member outlined, the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is beyond dire, and I will not repeat the details of how awful the situation is. Suffice it to say that all we have to do is look at our phones to see Palestinian refugees being bombed, murdered and repeatedly displaced on a daily basis. I want to use my time to concentrate on what this Government are going to do. Their record to date has been abysmal. From the Prime Minister legitimising the right of Israel to impose a siege on the entire population to the Foreign Secretary appearing to be ignorant of the meaning of the word “genocide” and the Government refusing to impose any meaningful sanctions on either arms sales or illegal settlements, this Government’s failure to take action against ethnic cleansing and genocide has made them complicit in those acts.

I draw our Government’s attention to the actions of the Irish Government, and suggest they take a leaf out of their book. At the moment, the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill is making its way through the Irish parliamentary system, where it has received Government and cross-party support. The Bill is not new: it was first introduced in 2018, and there were concerns at the time that its measures might be in breach of EU law. However, the Irish Attorney General has updated his legal advice to refer the Bill to the next stage of the Irish parliamentary process, following the ICJ’s ruling in its advisory opinion in July. As discussed previously in Parliament, the ruling found that Israeli settlements in the west bank and East Jerusalem were in breach of international law. It found that occupation of those territories amounts to long-term annexation, which has undermined the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and that the occupation must be brought to an immediate end. Therefore, countries can no longer lawfully trade with those settlements.

When the Bill is passed, Ireland will become the first EU country to ban trade with those illegal settlements, which are the main impediment to Palestinian rights to self-determination. The response of successive UK Governments to the issue of illegal settlements is to say that the UK does not recognise them, and that goods originating from the settlements are not entitled to tariff or trade preferences, while at the same time refusing to actually suspend trade in goods and services between the UK and companies operating in the illegal settlements. While I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s introduction of new sanctions on three illegal settler outposts, and four organisations that have supported and sponsored violence against communities, his actions are ineffective and ambiguous. Why just impose sanctions on a handful of settlements? There are at least 144 settlements sanctioned by the Israeli Government, and another 196 outposts.

[Sir Roger Gale (in the Chair)]

Order. I must ask hon. Members to keep an eye on the clock.

14:51

[Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) for securing this important debate.

As we meet today, there is increasing evidence that what is being done to the Palestinians of Gaza will come to be understood as crimes of historic magnitude. Our response to them and our efforts to stop them should be of a gravity that is equal to the moment we are in.

The last time we spoke on the issue in the Chamber, I expressed grave concern that Israel was preventing aid from entering Gaza, and that it might even go as far as preventing the UN from carrying out its duties in the provision of humanitarian assistance. Since then, the Knesset has passed a Bill banning UNRWA from Israeli territory and occupied Palestinian territory, and it has even banned the UN Secretary-General.

I spoke about the situation in the north of Gaza, including at Kamal Adwan hospital, where the Israeli military’s actions were endangering the lives of children in paediatric intensive care. Some of those children were killed after the hospital was besieged and many medical workers were abducted. They must be released. How will the Government help to ensure those responsible are held accountable?

The denial of humanitarian assistance has been accompanied by what Human Rights Watch referred to last week as

“massive, deliberate forced displacement of Palestinian civilians in Gaza”.

Human Rights Watch made it clear that the Israeli authorities are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said:

“We are facing what could amount to atrocity crimes, including potentially extending to crimes against humanity.”

One person who is similarly clear is the Israeli National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. In the summer, he said he wanted to “encourage emigration” from Gaza and replace the population with Israeli settlers. I remind the House that forced displacement constitutes a crime against humanity.

Finally, I share the words of my friend Moe, a doctor and aid worker in Gaza. He is Palestinian. Last night he said:

“I’ve started to feel like the world has forgotten about us. It’s been over a year now and it feels as though no one is paying attention anymore, as there is no change at any level. I’m still displaced here in Khanyounis...The situation is getting more dire. At times, it really starts to feel like this is the ‘new normal’ we’re going to have to endure for years to come. Death and destruction might never end. I have been once to the North, where my home is, and I think only that day I understood what this war is about—it is about the Land.”

Therefore, I ask the Minister what fresh action the Government are taking to pressure Israel into complying with the ICJ’s multiple binding orders? In light of Ben-Gvir’s many statements of intent, and as part of a wider package of measures, will the Government now announce sanctions against both Ben-Gvir and Smotrich?

[Sir Roger Gale (in the Chair)]

Order. We must keep an eye on the clock. [Interruption.]

14:54

Sitting suspended for Divisions in the House.

15:18

On resuming—

[John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Ind)]

I want to make three brief points.

First, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) raised the issue of the children who have been seriously injured in Gaza and the west bank. I think this is the ninth occasion on which I have raised the same issue, either in debates or in correspondence. It would be helpful to have a response from the Minister, who has looked at the progress on developing the scheme we have been recommending, based on the Ukrainian scheme, to get children here for treatment. There has been a willingness from a number of clinicians in this country to facilitate that.

Secondly, my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry South (Zarah Sultana) may raise this point as well, but members of the Fire Brigades Union have raised funds and provided a fire and rescue vehicle for use in Palestine to enable people to be saved and rescued from the rubble of the bombings. The Israeli Government have prevented that vehicle from being delivered. I urge the Government to intervene to ensure that it is.

Thirdly, the world has changed with the election of Donald Trump. Certainly the direction of travel has changed with regard to Netanyahu and his colleagues in the Cabinet. They believe that they have permission to annex all of Palestine, and that they can act with complete impunity now that Donald Trump has been elected.

The onus therefore falls upon the shoulders of our Government to be the leaders seeking peace in the world. We also recognise that words have not been good enough to protect the Palestinian people or to move the situation towards a ceasefire. That is why I have come to the conclusion that our Government must lead on the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. We have the potential to unite a whole range of countries across the globe—in the global south as well as across Europe—in taking serious action on BDS. We will have a meeting on Saturday morning in my community, where we will look at how we can undertake sanctions locally. Our local shops did a boycott on Israeli goods last time this situation occurred, and that is what we will be developing.

[Richard Burgon (Leeds East) (Ind)]

Last week, a United Nations special committee found that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war, and that Israel’s methods of warfare in Gaza are consistent with genocide. Given that, to put an end to the humanitarian crisis, do we not need to see tough sanctions on Israel—on arms, trade and individuals—until Israel finally stops violating international law?

[John McDonnell]

I can see no other option now. We have tried everything else. We have tried dialogue. We have tried pressure. We have tried to form alliances and to support progressive forces within Israel itself. All of that has failed. I think someone mentioned that every night, we come home and we watch children dying in front of our eyes on television. I think there is nothing else, so I urge the Government to rethink their strategy and become the leaders in the BDS movement across Europe and the global south, because that is the only way we will be able to shift this Israeli Government away from murdering more of the people in Palestine.

15:22

[Paul Waugh (Rochdale) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) for securing this vital and urgent debate.

I will start by telling the story of Mohammed, a new-born baby in northern Gaza. Just a few hours after Mohammed was born, he and his mother, Raghad, had to be transferred to a new hospital amid fears for their safety. On the way, their ambulance was hit by an Israeli missile. The paramedics survived and tried to save the mother and baby, but they were hit by a second missile. Twenty hours later, Mohammed was found as the only survivor. Sky News reported that he was cradled in his dead mother’s arms.

Sadly, Mohammed’s story is not a one-off. On 8 November, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published its report on verifiable deaths in Gaza—deaths with three independent sources to corroborate them. The UN found that close to 70% of the fatalities were children and women.

[Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)]

On that point, does my hon. Friend agree that the toll and the impact on children has been absolutely devastating? Over 16,000 have been killed in Gaza, but it has also been the deadliest year in the west bank with 171 deaths, which is the greatest number of children being killed at any one time since the Israeli army seized control of the area in 1967. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government must do more to meet our aims on international humanitarian law?

[Paul Waugh]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. To back up her point, in residential housing, where the vast majority of people die in Gaza, 44% of deaths have been children and 26% have been women. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said on 8 November that

“this unprecedented level of killing, and injury of civilians is a direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law—namely, the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack.”

These deaths of children are not one-offs. They are not exceptions that prove the rule of Israeli safeguards in the theatre of conflict. The frequent, relentless loss of civilian life proves that rule of law—international law—is being wilfully ignored. The repeated restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza are further breaches of basic fundamental international legal obligations on an occupying power and, let us not forget, this is an occupying power.

Despite the US’s ultimatum prompting some opening of crossings recently, there is still a trickle of aid going into Gaza and winter is coming. The UN and the UK rightly condemned Hamas’s rampage of killing, barbarism and hostage-taking on 7 October 2023. The very act of taking and keeping hostages is itself a war crime and the anguish their families face must be unbearable. Nothing can ever justify or excuse the horror of 7 October, but nothing can ever justify or excuse the massive loss of civilian life that has followed day in, day out ever since.

Can I ask the Minister if she believes the UK is fulfilling its own obligations under international law as affects our trade and arms links with Israel, not just in Gaza but in the illegal settlements in the west bank? Given that ultimately the only route to peace for Israelis and Palestinians is a negotiated settlement, can I ask what progress the UK has made in working with other countries to recognise the state of Palestine as soon as possible?

15:26

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Members might be aware that I am a friend of Israel and I have visited Israel in a delegation to see at first hand the devastation that people are living through there this year. However, being a friend of Israel does not make me an enemy of the people of Gaza and I wish to make that very clear from the outset.

This is an issue that stirs deep emotions and concerns, and I commend my colleagues for their dedication to discussing these critical matters, especially as we consider the recent and devastating events of 7 October. The attack on Israel by Hamas, a recognised terrorist organisation, was a tragedy of immense proportions. Over 1,200 lives were taken, and acts of violence committed so horrific that they have left an indelible scar. We witnessed the murder of innocent civilians, the targeting of women and children, acts of brutality that defy comprehension. The trauma of that day will remain with us, and more importantly with the victims’ families, forever. It is right that we call out those atrocities for what they are—acts of terror designed to destroy the very fabric of peace.

Yet as we rightly condemn Hamas, we must also turn our attention to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza and the west bank. The Palestinian people, who have long endured hardship, find themselves caught in the crossfire of this conflict. They suffer from a lack of access to basic necessities, such as food, clean water and medical care. The destruction of infrastructure and the blockade have exacerbated that plight.

Let me be clear that recognising the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people does not and should not conflict with our unwavering support for Israel’s right to defend itself. The humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in Gaza, has reached a critical level. Attacks have disproportionately affected vulnerable groups such as women, children and the elderly. The healthcare system has collapsed and humanitarian access remains severely restricted, with only a fraction of aid trucks permitted to enter Gaza daily.

The road to peace is complex, and part of that journey must include a mutual recognition of rights. Palestine must acknowledge Israel’s right to exist in every sense of the word—politically, socially, territorially—and with that recognition must come a clear and unequivocal renunciation of violence. Terrorist attacks launched from Palestine territories must cease, not only because they undermine peace but because they perpetuate a cycle of suffering for both Israelis and for Palestinians.

I am particularly pleased to see the Minister in her place. She knows that I am fond of her because she answers questions and has compassion and understanding. The justice that she promotes is well known and so I very much look forward to hearing how the Government plan to address this pressing issue with urgency and clarity.

Let us not forget that the humanitarian crisis in the occupied territories is a symptom of a deeper conflict. It is a conflict rooted in historical grievances, territorial disputes and mutual mistrust. Addressing humanitarian needs is essential but it must be accompanied by a robust effort to tackle those underlying issues. We must use all of our influence to encourage a return to meaningful negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The ultimate goal must be a two-state solution in which both peoples can live side by side in peace and security.

15:29

[Yuan Yang (Earley and Woodley) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I welcome this opportunity to discuss the ongoing atrocities in Gaza, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) for bringing this debate to Westminster Hall. I also thank my constituents who have made it here from Earley and Woodley. I know that this is a top issue of concern for them and for many of us across the country, and the amount of correspondence I receive on this issue far exceeds any other.

There is little more that I can add to what hon. Members have already said about the horrors we are seeing in Gaza. One of my constituents, who is a GP, described to me his trip to Gaza in 2015. He had been sent to inspect al-Ahli hospital, which had been bombed the previous year in 2014. That hospital was bombed once again over the last year, and through his contacts at the hospital, my constituent has told me that thankfully most of the staff there have survived. Against the odds, they amazingly continue to operate a very reduced service in that hospital.

Testimonies such as that of my constituent and his contacts are all the more rare because we are now seeing an effective blockade on information coming out of Gaza, and I want to touch on the issues facing journalists in the region. Many hon. Members have noted the horrific images and videos coming out of Gaza; however, we are seeing only a drop in the ocean of what is actually happening in the region. There are now almost no journalists left, and it has been one of the most deadly wars for journalists in history. Israeli forces have killed over 140 journalists according to Reporters Without Borders, 34 of whom were killed while working. I spoke to one journalist recently who described to me the following:

“Journalists have been targeted and it has been made difficult for them to leave. Their lives have been made miserable. In previous wars there were places possible to stay—but here the journalists can’t find anywhere. The inability to get images and reporting on the ground lessens the impact of reporting, and the inability of readers to understand what is happening there…Over time, the level of attention dissipates because readers are weary. The challenge for us is to find new ways of covering it.”

I know that a former colleague of mine made an extended and prolonged attempt to leave the region, and thankfully has done so, but there are many more journalists who have been unable to leave, despite being maimed and in severe difficulty. What can we do about that as an issue?

I thank the Government and the Minister for their existing attempts to get aid into the region, but the situation has now changed for the worse because of the blockage on UNRWA aid, as we heard from other Members. The UK needs to take leadership on this issue and I ask the Minister how the Government plan to vote tonight on the UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire. Many of my colleagues have already brought up the issue of sanctions, and it is important that we proceed with sanctions, particularly against the Israeli Finance Minister and the Israeli National Security Minister, in accordance with our obligations on humanitarian issues and under international law. Will the Minister consider these representations?

15:32

[Frank McNally (Coatbridge and Bellshill) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. The situation for the Palestinian people at this moment is beyond desperate. The Israeli response to the atrocity of 7 October has been vast and ruthless, from large-scale indiscriminate bombing to snipers and drones targeting civilians as they gather water and even as they sleep. Israeli tanks have been used to attack unarmed civilians, and the images of people being burned alive in their tents just a few short weeks ago will surely be seared into all our minds. Gazans are routinely left to die in agony under rubble or destroyed buildings, with multiple generations of families being wiped out in an instant, as the crowded homes that they live in are razed to the ground. What were once hospitals and refugee camps are now cemeteries. That is the brutal and horrendous reality.

It is the assessment of the Red Cross that this conflict shows no sign of abating, and the humanitarian situation deteriorates by the hour. More than 43,000 people have died in occupied Gaza, as well as a further 730 in the west bank, and 72% of those killed are women and children. At least 101,000 people have been injured in Gaza, and a further 5,500 in the west bank. The healthcare system, as has been touched on, is set to collapse imminently. Entire neighbourhoods have been destroyed, and shamefully, UNRWA aid has been legislated against by the Knesset.

Meanwhile, the UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, has described Gaza as an “unrelenting dystopian horror”. He notes:

“Nearly the entire population has been displaced multiple times…Across Gaza, 660,000 children who should be in school are learning nothing more than how to survive.”

As my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) highlighted, many of those children are being targeted by drones. The global community recognises Israel’s right to self-defence, and it is imperative that the hostages, so cruelly held by Hamas, are released, but the violence, horror, suffering and injustice directed at innocent Palestinians must end immediately. Israel must comply with the instructions of the ICJ and the UN; there must be an immediate halt to this action and full accountability. This horror must end now and the full might of the British state must be brought to this matter.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Sir Roger Gale (in the Chair)]

Order. Will Members stand again, please? One or two people who were standing are not now.

15:35

[Alex Ballinger (Halesowen) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. As we have heard from other hon. Members, the death and destruction meted out in Gaza has been horrendous: 43,000 people have been killed since 7 October last year, nearly three quarters of them women and children. A child is killed in Gaza every 10 minutes. A full 90% of the population, almost the entire Gaza strip, has been forced to leave their homes. Most have been displaced many times, with some families being forced to move seven, eight or nine times over the past 13 months.

Some might justify that as a sad but inevitable result of fighting a terrorist organisation in a densely populated area. Although Israel has every right to respond to the awful attacks by Hamas on 7 October, the disregard for civilian lives and the failure to ensure adequate humanitarian access during its response is completely unacceptable.

I feel I have some authority in this matter, having twice served with the Royal Marines in Afghanistan, where we were fighting a terrorist organisation in built-up areas with many civilians. It is indisputable that the Israel Defence Forces’ conduct in Gaza over the past 13 months has been massively disproportionate, and that the impact on civilians has breached international humanitarian law. Regularly dropping 2,000 lb bombs in built-up areas, destroying tens of thousands of homes, and the unavoidable civilian casualties in that area is completely unacceptable.

Again and again, they are targeting protected facilities such as schools and hospitals, including al-Aqsa hospital just last month, where civilians were burnt to death in a safe zone that they had been told to relocate to. As a result of fighting, now only two of Gaza’s 36 permanent hospitals still have full functioning capacity. Israel has also failed to protect aid workers, with more than 300 aid workers killed during the fighting, including three former British servicemen killed by an Israeli missile attack in April.

As we have heard from others, Israel continues to block the access of essential humanitarian aid. Oxfam, Save the Children and Refugees International have all called for Israel to comply with demands for better humanitarian access. Rather than improving access, the Israeli Knesset has called for UNRWA to be banned from working in Israeli territories. UNRWA has said that the practical implications of the ban would make it almost impossible for its aid workers to operate in the country. That decision alone will be catastrophic for the 1.9 million Palestinians who are currently displaced in the area.

Although we are appalled at the 43,000 who have been killed so far, those of us who have worked in conflict zones know that hunger, disease, starvation and exposure will kill more people than the fighting. With the collapse of the health system, we are already seeing outbreaks of hepatitis A, polio and chicken pox. I ask the Minister to update the House on what steps the Government are taking to hold Israel to account for the protection of civilians in Gaza, aid workers and medical staff working in the few hospitals that remain intact.

15:38

[Zarah Sultana (Coventry South) (Ind)]

The nightmare unfolding in Gaza is a deliberate, unparalleled human catastrophe. This is not merely a crisis; this is genocide and extermination. Those are not just my words but the conclusions of the UN commission of inquiry. In northern Gaza, more than 400,000 Palestinians are trapped under relentless Israeli bombardment. Families fleeing are gunned down and so-called safe zones are turned into death traps.

Children are killed on the streets, with five to nine-year-olds the most killed age group in Gaza. Families are burned alive by incendiary weapons. Hospitals, schools and refugee camps are obliterated. Since 1 October, essential aid has been blocked by Israel. Gaza is starving and its health system has collapsed. Diseases such as polio have returned, and the UN describes the situation as “apocalyptic”. The so-called humanitarian zones in southern Gaza offer no refuge.

Over 1 million people are crammed into unliveable conditions. They are not evacuations; they are forced transfers and war crimes under international law. Furthermore, escape routes are bombed. People are trapped with nowhere to go. Over 90% of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed, making return impossible. That is ethnic cleansing. Israeli officials brazenly promised it and delivered it. The International Criminal Court and UN experts also confirm it. Targeting civilians, blocking aid and destroying survival infrastructure meet the legal criteria of genocide, despite what the Prime Minister says at Prime Minister’s questions.

So what has the UK done? Far from neutral, the UK is an active participant in genocide. British-made components are part of every single F-35 fighter jet raining down death on Gaza. Every single bomb dropped and every single life lost bears the stain of British support. Such complicity is undeniable. Yesterday, in a hearing at the royal courts of justice, the Government admitted two chilling facts. First, there is a clear risk that UK-made F-35 parts could be used in violations of international humanitarian law. Secondly, the Government’s own assessment, made on 24 July 2024, concluded that Israel is not committed to complying with international humanitarian law. Those admissions trigger the UK’s legal obligation under criterion 2c of the strategic export licence criteria, which states that exports cannot be allowed if there is a clear risk of misuse.

Despite that, the Government have allowed exports to continue for five weeks, during which over 1,700 Palestinians were killed. The Defence Secretary has defended this carve-out for F-35s, prioritising “US confidence in the UK” over Palestinian lives. How disturbing. The UK Government have a duty to prevent and punish genocide. By refusing to act, they risk not only complicity, but criminal liability.

15:41

[Tracy Gilbert (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) on securing this debate. I know that all my hon. Friends look on in horror at the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I have long called for an immediate ceasefire from all sides to take the difficult journey to peace and achieve a two-state solution.

A week ago the International Development Committee heard from the Palestinian Red Crescent that the situation on the ground in Gaza, far from getting better, has deteriorated since it last gave evidence in January. On Thursday, Human Rights Watch published its report, “Hopeless, Starving and Besieged—Israel’s Forced Displacement of Palestinians in Gaza”, which makes it clear that there is nowhere safe in Gaza.

Under the Geneva convention, Israel as an occupying power has an obligation to ensure that civilians are not subjected to reprisals and that education and healthcare are available. Israel must provide protections to health services and is required to ensure that the provision of food and medical supplies are facilitated if need be. Article 49 of the Geneva convention should ensure that somewhere in Gaza is safe for ordinary Palestinians.

There is much debate on whether Israel has followed international humanitarian law in forcibly transferring people to southern Gaza. It appears that the generals’ plans are being implemented, with bombings seen in Jabalia and Beit Lahia. I would argue that the Israeli Government have not attempted to comply with article 49. Some 96% of Gaza’s population is relying on food aid. Nine out of 10 children are not receiving the nutrition they need for growth and development, and the already low level of food aid entering Gaza is at the lowest this year. That is all a clear breach of article 49.

The Israeli Government not only have a significant responsibility over the Occupied Palestinian Territories, but significant power. I am keen to hear from the Minister what action the UK Government are taking to ensure that more aid gets into Gaza, especially as we approach the colder months, including any pressure the Government are putting on the Israeli Government to allow more aid into Gaza. A July press release from the Foreign Office indicated that the Department would issue a response to the ICJ’s advisory opinion on Israel and the occupied territories. I am also keen to hear from the Minister when her Department will issue the final response.

15:44

[Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) for securing this vital debate.

The current humanitarian situation in Palestine needs to be analysed through a much wider historical lens, because the intense suffering being felt by Palestinians began many decades ago. The term “Nakba” translates from Arabic as “the catastrophe”, and it is a catastrophe that is felt by Palestinians as a collective trauma. The Nakba in 1948 led to approximately 750,000 people, half of Palestine’s predominantly Arab population, being expelled from their homes and having to flee their communities. Displacement is not a new occurrence for Palestinians. From the 1940s to the present day, ethnic cleansing has been continuous. It is part of the daily struggle of the colonised Palestinian people. Ilan Pappé, the Israeli historian, described it perfectly when he said, “Palestine’s blood never dried.”

The seizing of land and possessions, the violence, the refusal to recognise culture and basic human rights, the imprisonment, the apartheid and now the blocking of water, food, medicine and, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) mentioned, even a fire engine donated by the Fire Brigades Union Scotland to the people of Gaza when they need it most—these are all examples of settler colonialism that sees removal of the local population through ethnic cleansing and a genocide.

The international community, and especially the UK and the US in their November and December United Nations Security Council presidencies, must do more, and a lot more than the timid condemnation of the Israeli Government’s belligerent and truculent actions, which have inflicted death and destruction. We must let the world see just how special a relationship we really have by stopping all arms sales to Israel, achieving the release of all hostages, brokering an end to the killing with a lasting ceasefire, making sure that lifesaving humanitarian aid reaches those people in dire need, and by ensuring a safe Israel alongside a rebuilt, prosperous and free Palestine. That means a free Palestine that is not an open-air prison shoehorned into a confined area, but a real nation with its people free of the relentless Nakba and persecution that they have been the victim of for generations.

15:46

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) for securing this debate.

There is no shying away from the fact that a heartbreaking humanitarian catastrophe is occurring in the west bank, in the Gaza Strip and more recently in Lebanon, with, of course, the threat of wider escalation. The depth of destruction is immense—over 40,000 Palestinians killed, 16,000 of them children. The scale of these numbers is unfathomable, so let me put it into context. Entire areas have been reduced to piles of rubble. Families have been forced to flee from their homes, in the process losing their loved ones, and many of them will never return home. These are real people, with real hopes, real aspirations and real dreams—lives and communities shattered; every last memory reduced to dust. The people I am talking about are not fighters, but ordinary civilians—families with children.

Among the death and destruction, Israel’s Knesset has passed Bills to restrict UNWRA aid from getting into the region. The Knesset has also moved to restrict basic necessities such as bread, shelter and emergency healthcare for those who have been wounded. The situation is intolerable, and we should not tolerate it. Now is the time for action. We must protect the delivery of aid in the region and as a bare minimum—as a start—there must be an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, the protection of civilians, unfettered access to aid in Gaza and a pathway towards a two-state solution. Will the Minister please commit to that as a bare minimum?

[Dr Zubir Ahmed (Glasgow South West) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the right to basic necessities—surgical swabs, vaccines and basic hygiene equipment—is the right of the Palestinian people and not the gift of any other country? Does he also agree that, as a critical friend of Israel, we perhaps need to feed back to Israel that elements of its own Government are now a threat not only to the peace and security of the region, but to the peace and security of Israel itself?

[Jas Athwal]

I agree with my hon. Friend. That is their right and they should be allowed it, without any question from anybody outside. We should use our influence around the world to ensure that we finally have deeds and not just words. We must turn those words into actions.

15:49

[Tony Vaughan (Folkestone and Hythe) (Lab)]

It is always a privilege to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) for securing this timely debate.

The attack on innocent Israelis on 7 October was horrific, and the hostages who were taken must be released unconditionally. Israel unquestionably has the right to defend itself against such an atrocity. However, more than a year on, the situation in Gaza is grave. I cannot add to the statistics and harrowing testimonies described by other hon. Members. It is indeed an “unrelenting dystopian horror”, as my hon. Friend the Member for Coatbridge and Bellshill (Frank McNally) said.

I want to make a few remarks about the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion of July this year, which the hon. Member for Dewsbury and Batley (Iqbal Mohamed) described. As I understand it, the UK Government are formulating their response. One important element of the ICJ’s advisory opinion was the finding, in paragraph 279, that

“all the States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention have the obligation, while respecting the Charter of the United Nations and international law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention.”

The Court was therefore clear that ensuring that international humanitarian law is respected by Israel is a legal requirement on parties to the fourth Geneva convention, which include the UK.

As I understand it, the UK’s position is that it has no obligation to ensure respect by other states in conflicts to which the UK is not a party. In the light of the ICJ advisory opinion and in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict, that notion is not, or is no longer, a legally sustainable position in international law, nor is it right more broadly. There are many reasons why that ought already to have been clear, but the ICJ advisory opinion puts the issue beyond reasonable dispute.

The UK should consider that we have an obligation to ensure compliance by Israel with international law. As a lawyer, I respectfully suggest that is the correct interpretation of the international rules and that, taking this approach, the UK would have to demand more of Israel to give effect to the advisory opinion, specifically with regard to the timing and details of Israel’s withdrawal from the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as in relation to recognition by the UK of a Palestinian state.

I therefore urge the UK Government to publish their response to the ICJ’s advisory opinion as soon as possible, and ask the Minister to confirm the timing for that. I also urge them to adopt the internationally accepted approach to their obligations, which I have outlined, if they have not already done so.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Sir Roger Gale (in the Chair)]

Order. I have been informed that three Members who have spoken in the debate wish to attend a meeting with the Foreign Secretary at 4 o’clock. Of course, the Divisions were not entirely foreseeable, and they have extended the debate, which will now end at 4.25 pm. I will permit this, but Members need to understand that, had there not been Divisions, the debate would have ended at 4 o’clock. Colleagues know that. Unless you are thinking of travelling by TARDIS, it is not possible to get from here to Committee Room 7 without a minute.

In future, when you plan your diaries, please make sure that if you intend to speak in a debate, you have the opportunity to do the Front-Bench spokespeople the courtesy of attending the wind-ups. With that proviso, Members who need to leave may leave at three minutes to 4.

15:53

[Calum Miller (Bicester and Woodstock) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I congratulate the hon. Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) on securing a debate on this most pressing of topics, which a great number of our constituents are deeply concerned about. The hon. Member’s compassion and concern for those affected by the conflict, particularly the children, are clear to see.

More than a year on from Hamas’s 7 October terrorist attacks and the response that followed by Israel in Gaza, we now face a devastating situation. Gaza faces a humanitarian catastrophe: tens of thousands of Palestinians have died, and 90% of the population of Gaza has been internally displaced. Israel has now twice been hit by airstrikes from Iran, tens of thousands remain internally displaced and around 100 Israelis are still being held hostage by Hamas.

In the west bank, settler violence has continued to spike. As many Members have mentioned, in just the past few days we have seen comments from Finance Minister Smotrich and the Minister of Settlements, Orit Strook, about annexing the west bank. We also see the widening of the conflict across the region, not least in Lebanon, where over 1.2 million have been displaced. Refugees from Syria have elected to return rather than remaining in Lebanon.

The Liberal Democrats continue to reiterate our call for an immediate bilateral ceasefire in Gaza to put an end to the humanitarian devastation, get the hostages home and open the door to a two-state solution. We have called for that for more than a year. It is, frankly, a failure of the international community that, as we approach a year since the temporary pause in the conflict in late November 2023, that brief cessation is all we have managed. I met recently Ehab al-Sharief, whose family members have been killed and injured in Gaza. They are despairing that the situation will ever improve. How are the Government exerting influence on the parties to the conflict to bring about a ceasefire?

As other Members have noted, it is shocking to read the UN Human Rights Office report, which said that over a six-month period between November 2023 and April 2024 close to 70% of the victims in Gaza were women and children. I agree with the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh) that those figures are horrific, and far higher than the proportions we would expect for conflict zones. They raise clear questions about breaches of international law that I urge the Minister to address.

I was not at the event mentioned by the hon. Member for Glasgow West, but I have read the testimony of Professor Nizam Mamode before the International Development Committee last week. He said that attacks on civilians were a “deliberate and persistent act”, and that there was

“persistent targeting of civilians day after day.”

Do the Government share Professor Mamode’s assessment?

Reflecting on such testimony, I welcome the language of the Minister for Africa, who said at the UN Security Council last week that

“it is abundantly clear that a worst case scenario is now playing out in areas of northern Gaza, where starvation, malnutrition and deaths are believed to be rising fast. Colleagues, time has run out, and urgent solutions are required now, to prevent the very worst from unfolding.”

In line with the remarks from her departmental colleague, will the Minister update us as to the UK’s assessment of its obligation to prevent atrocities?

A particular cause for concern in both Gaza and Lebanon is the use of displacement orders by the IDF, as highlighted by the hon. Members for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) and for Edinburgh North and Leith (Tracy Gilbert). Those instructions to the civilian population often include relocation to areas that are already overcrowded and have very limited facilities. What assessment have the Government made of whether displacement orders are a breach of Israel’s obligations to civilians under international law? Following on from the point raised by the hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan), what obligations does the Minister consider the UK to have as a result?

Tragically, the UN has reported that the aid reaching Gaza has recently been at its lowest level since the first month of the war, yet this has coincided with the US’s 30-day period for the Israeli Government to boost aid into Gaza—a period following which the US has said Israel has taken further steps. Will the Minister address whether the UK Government share that assessment by the US?

It was reported yesterday that 97 UNRWA trucks had been stolen and the aid looted. What assessment have the Government made of the risk to aid delivery in Gaza, and the responsibility of all parties to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid? I reiterate the concern shared throughout the Chamber about the laws passed in the Israeli Knesset to ban UNRWA. The move, if enacted, would lead to the deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians. What steps are the UK Government taking with their international partners to make it clear to Israel that the ban must not go ahead? Instead, we should be supporting UNRWA to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, as well as ensuring that the Colonna report recommendations are implemented as soon as possible.

I turn to the plight of the hostages, following the comments from the hon. Members for Rochdale and for Strangford (Jim Shannon). Over 100 hostages are still being held by Hamas in Gaza. We continue to call for their unconditional release. Our thoughts are with them and their families. I was pleased to sign the early-day motion tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Henley and Thame (Freddie van Mierlo), calling for the release of British citizen Emily Damari. Will the Minister update us on what conversations the Government have had with ministerial counterparts in other countries about getting the hostages home? We cannot discuss Hamas’s atrocities without remembering the role of Iran, which has continued to arm terrorist proxies across the region. Will the Minister confirm whether the UK Government will finally proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation?

Many hon. Members have referred to the significant concerns about the situation in the west bank, where settler violence has spiked since 7 October 2023, and we now see the comments from Finance Minister Smotrich about annexation. The UK was right to condemn Smotrich’s comments, but will the Government go further and expand our sanctions against the extremist settler movement to Smotrich and Ben-Gvir?

We urge the Government to uphold the ICJ advisory opinion on the illegality of the occupation, including by implementing legislation to cease the trade of settlement goods to the UK. The Government have said they accept the advisory opinion, so can the Minister set out whether it is, therefore, the UK’s stance that the occupation is illegal, and will she update us as to what discussions have taken place about settlement goods?

Many of us have been deeply concerned to see Donald Trump nominate Mike Huckabee as the next US ambassador to Israel—a man who has called for a one-state solution and said he does not accept the term “Palestinian”. Does the Minister share my concern about someone with such extremist views being been appointed to that critical position? Will the UK accordingly try to use whatever leverage it can with the Biden Administration, including at the UN, in the remaining weeks before the second Trump presidency?

The situation is challenging, but I urge the Government to take a firmer stance in key areas, and to show themselves to be more robust with all combatants in pressing for an end to violence and in upholding international law. We cannot stand idly by in the face of such death and suffering.

16:01

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I congratulate the hon. Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) on securing this important debate, and thank all Members who have contributed.

As the Conservative Government said throughout, an end to the conflict has to be a sustainable end. That starts with the release of the hostages, who remain in such cruel captivity more than a year since the appalling 7 October terrorist attacks, the deadliest in Israel’s history. As we have said from the outset, Israel has the right to defend itself in accordance with international humanitarian law. The suffering of the hostages is utterly intolerable for Israel and should be intolerable for any person—and any Government—who cares about human dignity and human rights.

Let us be clear: Hamas could release the hostages now, immediately and unconditionally. I would be grateful if the Minister could update the House on what recent contribution the UK Government have made to the international effort to help to secure the release of those poor hostages, who remain in such terrible jeopardy. Will she also update the House on her department’s assessment of recent events in Qatar, and on what she believes the implications could be for the region?

Innocent civilians in Gaza are suffering and they are desperate. They continue to be used as human shields by Hamas, who have no regard for their safety and welfare. Calling for more aid access is right and important, but helping to make it a reality is a different thing. The Conservative Government helped to identify different ways that aid could get in, and we appointed a special representative for humanitarian affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who was on the ground and had a remit to try to address the bottlenecks to the delivery of aid.

We came up with clear proposals and put them to the Government of Israel, including on aid delivery through Ashdod and Erez, as well as Kerem Shalom and the Jordan land corridor. Israel made a number of significant and welcome commitments on those points, as well as on approving more types of aid. I would appreciate an update from the Minister on what recent engagements she has had with Israeli counterparts on the fulfilment of those vital commitments in recent days and weeks, and confirmation of whether she has identified any additional routes for aid delivery since she came into office.

The previous Government also worked with the US and Cyprus to set up a temporary pier off Gaza for aid delivery, and conducted airdrops—solutions not without logistical challenges, but which were none the less viable. Delivery by land is clearly optimal, but have the Government explored any alternatives to help to bolster the UK’s aid effort? Of course, the type of aid that is delivered is also crucial, and it is important that all bases are covered.

We supported UNICEF to assist more than 5,800 children with severe malnourishment and 853,000 children, adolescents and carers with wider emergency services. On sexual and reproductive healthcare, we gave £4.25 million to support the UN Population Fund’s efforts to reach 110,000 women with up to 100 community midwives, 20,000 menstrual hygiene kits and 45,000 clean birth delivery kits. We also delivered 8,400 shelter coverage kits and funded a field hospital, treating thousands of patients. We funded 2,000 tonnes of food for distribution by the UN World Food Programme.

As humanitarian need evolves in Gaza, how is the Minister proactively ensuring that the UK’s aid offering evolves in kind, and what discussions is she having with our trusted aid partners to that end? Getting aid over the border in the first place is one thing; ensuring that the aid delivered matches need is another. There is also the question of safe distribution of aid in Gaza. Specifically on that point, can the Minister confirm that ensuring effective deconfliction is a top priority in her discussions with Israel about the humanitarian situation in Gaza?

I would like to touch on UNRWA, because we are following developments in the Knesset very carefully. We want more aid to reach innocent civilians in Gaza, because the humanitarian situation is severe, including, of course, in the north of Gaza. But we also recognise that UNRWA must rebuild trust and confidence following the appalling allegations that staff were involved in the horrific attacks on 7 October 2023, and the dismissal of nine UNRWA staff following the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services investigation into those allegations. It is critical that UN bodies ensure adequate vetting of personnel and activities, and UNRWA needs to work hard to prove that it is getting that right. Catherine Colonna’s reforms need to be implemented in full. There has to be confidence that processes have changed, so that that never happens again and neutrality can be assured.

I am aware that the Government have put resource towards UNRWA reform, but that needs to deliver tangible and measurable results, so can the Minister update the House on what progress UNRWA has made on implementing the Colonna reforms, and specifically whether she believes that progress has been sufficient? More broadly, we need to ensure that we are working with every relevant UN agency and trusted partner—including the British Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN World Food Programme and others—to respond to critical food, fuel, water, health and shelter needs in Gaza.

The situation is certainly tense in the west bank. Although Israel must protect its vital security interests, we urge the Israeli authorities to do so in a way that minimises the risk of further instability or escalation. More broadly, in government we encouraged Israel to release frozen funds, to halt settlement expansion and to hold to account those responsible for extremist settler violence. We also strongly urged the Palestinian Authority to implement very much-needed reforms, including on education and welfare, and to set out a pathway to democratic progress.

To conclude, the Conservatives remain committed to peace and stability in the middle east. We ultimately want to be able to lift people’s eyes to a brighter future and a regional peace.

16:08

[The Minister for Development (Anneliese Dodds)]

It is a real pleasure to take part in this debate with you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I am very grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) for securing this important debate, and for the many contributions by Members from right across the House on this matter of grave importance. I will do my best to respond to the points raised, but this was a very broad-ranging debate, so I hope Members will contact me directly if there are any issues that I do not manage to cover. I will take the decision not to fully cover all the issues about regional developments in order to respond to those specific to this debate. I hope colleagues will accept that.

Gaza is clearly in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. On 12 November, the warning from the famine review committee marked a terrible new milestone: famine is now imminent in areas of northern Gaza. Starvation, malnutrition and related deaths in these areas are rising fast, as is the risk of disease. Hospitals and roads have been destroyed and, as the acting UN emergency relief co-ordinator Joyce Msuya put it, Gaza is now “unfit for human survival”.

The situation is appalling and man made, and Israel must act to address it immediately. I have heard directly just how dire conditions in Gaza have become from the staff of non-governmental organisations who risked their lives to get help in. The accounts they have relayed to me of the suffering they have sought to relieve are harrowing. We heard as much from a number of Members, although most clearly in the opening remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West and from the intervention made by my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams).

We know the disturbing statistics: more than 300 aid workers have been killed in the conflict—the highest number in any single crisis. Yet trucks, humanitarian workers and medics are at the border, ready to get life-saving support into Gaza as Israel continues to hold them back from making the last few miles of their vital journeys. We are increasingly concerned by reports that Palestinians are being prevented from returning to their communities as well. The situation in the west bank is also deteriorating.

As a number of Members have mentioned, Israeli incursions and settler violence have left hundreds of Palestinians dead this year and access to vital services, including healthcare, is being restricted for many others. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed), who is no longer in his place, was correct in saying that healthcare is absolutely a right.

The Opposition asked for an update about activity around entry points. The UK has been working intensively with other countries in the region and beyond to identify new entry points, wherever possible; I saw that for myself in Jordan. However, we also have to recognise the reality that conditions continue to worsen in Gaza at the moment. Israel must take the urgent action needed to change that. First, it must protect the civilian population and infrastructure. It must protect healthcare workers, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh) mentioned, and humanitarians, as well as journalists, mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Earley and Woodley (Yuan Yang).

[Zarah Sultana]

Will the Minister give way?

[Anneliese Dodds]

I will push on, if my hon. Friend does not mind.

So many have spoken so powerfully, such as my hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger), based on his personal experience of the need for access, particularly for healthcare workers. The Foreign Secretary has raised our grave concerns with Minister Dermer and Minister Katz. In response to the hon. Member for Bicester and Woodstock (Calum Miller), I should say that, as he would expect, we have repeatedly made representations bilaterally and multilaterally to countries in the region and to the US.

As hon. Members will be aware, on 2 September the Government announced the decision to suspend certain licences for UK exports to Israel in respect of items that could be used in the Gaza conflict, having concluded that there exists a clear risk that those might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law. On 5 November, the Minister with responsibility for the middle east spoke to the Israeli ambassador about the renewed strikes on Kamal Adwan hospital. Those mean that northern Gaza now has no fully functioning hospitals.

The sick and injured must be allowed to leave Gaza to receive care. Israel must rescind evacuation orders as soon as possible so that displaced families can return to their homes and communities and rebuild their lives. There must be no forced movement of people within or outside of Gaza; my hon. Friends the Members for Coventry South (Zarah Sultana) and for Slough (Mr Dhesi) rightly raised that. The UK Government have been crystal clear that that is unacceptable.

Secondly, Israel must make good on its commitment to “flood Gaza with aid”. As I made clear in the Chamber on 29 October, the UN and its agencies must be able to fulfil their mandate. My hon. Friends the Members for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward), for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) and for Coatbridge and Bellshill (Frank McNally) clearly stated that UNWRA’s mandate must be committed to. The UK Government have absolutely done that; I did it myself at the UN General Assembly. We are clear that there should not be attacks on UNRWA or attempts to undermine it.

I welcome the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton), the Opposition spokesperson, to her place; sorry, I should have said that earlier. She referred to the Colonna report. She is absolutely right that the UK Government have provided support to UNRWA so that it can be implemented. I have discussed it directly with the UNRWA leadership, who are taking those measures speedily into account, particularly around neutrality. Indeed, they had wished to act on that issue for a considerable time but did not have the funds to do so. Now they do and they are taking all allegations very seriously indeed.

A number of speakers have mentioned that winter is advancing. The flow of aid has now reached its lowest ebb since the conflict began. It is not matching need and so, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale said, we must ensure that civilians can withstand winter conditions and that there is the required humanitarian provision.

A number of Members have raised the UN Security Council. Reference was made to Lord Collins, who chaired a meeting to underscore the risk of famine in northern Gaza. The Foreign Secretary reiterated the UK’s unequivocal position yesterday. We are working hard with partners, including those in the global south, so that the Security Council can act on this catastrophic situation and push for a ceasefire, for hostage release and for a massive scale-up of aid. I hope that responds to the question laid by my hon. Friend the Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman) on that specific issue. There is no excuse for Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid. The restrictions must be lifted. There is no excuse for violations of international humanitarian law either. The UK Government’s position is that that must be respected by all sides.

On the International Court of Justice advisory opinion, the UK Government fully respect the independence of the ICJ. We continue to consider its advisory opinion carefully, with the rigour and seriousness that that deserves; I say that in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan), who is no longer in his place.

I have previously set out details of the aid provided from the UK. I know I have run out of time, Sir Roger, so I will speedily mention to my right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) that we have provided support to the Egyptian Government and to the World Health Organisation for their care to Palestinians who have been medically evacuated from Gaza. I will write to him on that subject. That has been part of a much larger package of measures that we have instituted to support healthcare, as well as food, nutrition, education, psycho-social support and so forth.

We always keep sanctions under review, but we condemn those remarks that have sought to dehumanise Palestinians.

In conclusion, alongside our international partners we call on Israel to take immediate steps to address this catastrophic situation, protect civilians and let in the promised lifesaving surge of aid that is so desperately needed now.

16:17

[Patricia Ferguson]

This has been a wide-ranging debate and it is fair to say that Members have covered all the issues pertinent to the situation in Gaza at the moment. I am sure the Minister was alive to the great deal of concern about the ongoing tragedy that is Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories. Of course we all want to see the hostages released. I personally do not think that Israel’s leaders are helping the situation with regard to the hostages, but that is a matter that they have to justify to their own people.

As we approach winter, the situation is becoming dire. We are seeing outbreaks of diseases not previously experienced to any great extent in Gaza; the case of the 10-month-old child who recently contracted polio is one example. It is good to see that inoculation programmes have begun in the region so that, hopefully, we can prevent a further outbreak. That is about just one disease, however —so many more can be caused by malnutrition, by cold, by damp and by lack of shelter. We really must make sure that the aid that has been promised, bought and sent to the region finds a way through and that we find a way through for it. Otherwise, the catastrophe that is already unfolding will be that much greater. None of us wants that.

I am grateful that Members around the room and across the political spectrum feel so strongly about this situation. We need unequivocal support for UNRWA at this time and to make sure that it can fulfil its mission by getting humanitarian aid into Gaza. It is the organisation that most other charitable and aid organisations rely upon to assist with that, so we really have to defend it.

There is a wider debate to be had—although this is perhaps not the occasion to have it—about the political situation that has pertained in the middle east for so many years. Any student of history will be able to tell that particular story. I have to say, the Conservative party’s position that Israel should halve the number of illegal settlements in the area is a surprise to me, and I find that very concerning. Any illegal settlement is illegal by definition and therefore should not be there. It contributes to the overall distress, chaos and conflict in the area.

I do not want to say much more other than to thank you, Sir Roger, the Clerks and particularly the Minister, who responded in so much detail to matters raised by hon. Members. She did so with precision and compassion, and that is very much to be welcomed. I sincerely hope that we see progress and that our Government continue to spearhead the arguments at the UN and elsewhere to make sure that the situation in Gaza results in a permanent ceasefire, the establishment of two states that can live together in the area, and the flooding of the area in the short term with humanitarian aid, with a view to rebuilding Palestine.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.