Israel/Gaza

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle Excerpts

Tuesday 24th October 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, I will take two perspectives on the situation in Gaza and Israel—one local and one global. I will use both these perspectives to argue for a call for a ceasefire now from the British Government. That call would reflect what the UN Secretary-General, UNICEF, the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization are saying. The call also comes from two organisations to which the noble Baroness, Lady Sheehan, referred—Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun —prominent Israeli and Palestinian women’s groups respectively. I noted that same call in the immensely powerful speech by the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, which drew on the voices of many so awfully affected by the Hamas atrocity.

I will give the local perspective first. Last night I spoke about the more than 2 million people facing acute water shortage. In 30-degree temperatures they do not have clean water to drink, let alone in which to bathe. More than 1 million people have been told to move, when there is nowhere to move to. I draw on a briefing on international law delivered today: forcible transfer is illegal and a war crime, but there are narrow exceptions if it is temporary and to protect civilians from hostilities, provided that there are assurances that they will be able to return home and there is a humanitarian safe haven—safe from war and provided with essential needs. Israel is not adhering to those principles in Gaza.

In north and south Gaza, children—so many children—women and men are being bombed, attacked and blown to pieces. Whole extended families have been obliterated. One story serves as an example of what is happening to many thousands: the British doctor Mohamed Altawil lost 35 people from his family in a strike on a residential building in which around 100 people died in total. Credible accounts put the level of violent deaths of children so far at 1,750. The total rises daily. Of all those children who were not killed, think of the maiming of their bodies and minds. The organisation Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor estimates a daily death toll of 200 children and infants. Some 24 hours ago we debated the situation in Gaza in this Chamber. Since then, 200 children and infants have died.

Last year, before all this started, a report found that four out of five under-18s in Gaza said that they already suffered from depression, grief or fear. That was a sharp deterioration compared with a 2018 study. A ceasefire would of course not undo all that damage to young minds and bodies, but it would mean an end to the reign of death and destruction in Gaza and Israel. Israeli families are mourning terrible losses and hoping desperately for the safety of hostages. A ceasefire would surely improve their chances of survival and freedom.

I turn now to the international perspective. In the UN Security Council, Russia has been using its attempts to promote a ceasefire resolution with backing from China, Gabon, Mozambique and the UAE to distract from its continuing criminal invasion of Ukraine. This is in a context in which Moscow has already won significant levels of backing and abstentions on motions against its attack on Ukraine from states that have become increasingly disillusioned particularly with the US and UK positions on a range of international issues. This comes in a week in which there has been a breakdown in crucial talks on climate loss and damage. In this context, the global South’s view of the global North can only further decline. In practical terms, a call for a ceasefire would also be a small step in the right direction of convincing many countries that the UK and its allies will act in line with the rule of law and follow humanitarian principles for all the world’s peoples.

There are long memories in your Lordships’ House, so some Members might recall the speech given in 1996 by the Conservative Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, to the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians. It stated that the UK’s position on Palestine was premised on international law and UN resolutions. The Green Party still holds this morally right position today, as it has always done. If we are to establish an order based on the international rule of law which all are expected to obey, we need this to be in the interests of Palestinians, Israelis and us all.

When I talk about the climate emergency, speakers from the Benches opposite often ask, “But what can the UK do?” The same question might be put here, although both our Prime Minister and Foreign Minister seem keen to put themselves forward as central players on the world stage. Rather, I suggest that we need to be humble and realistic. There are limits to what we can do, although restoring overall levels of official development assistance would be a good place to start. We can adopt international law and humanitarian imperatives as the guide for our words and actions.

The Government could start by speaking up for international law and accepting their responsibility to make a judgment call about what is happening in Gaza now, not trying to evade doing so as they have been in the face of multiple challenges in recent days. By not doing so they are implicitly saying that they regard the continuing slaughter of the innocents as acceptable. They could acknowledge that if one party does not adhere to the rule of law, that does not give the green light to the other side also not to adhere to the rules of war.

I will make two final short comments. Atrocity prevention should be at the centre of all UK foreign policy. We could do much more on this. As many other noble Lords have said, we should be putting our own modest contribution towards efforts to relaunch a political process for a two-state solution. The world’s attention had turned away from that; it clearly cannot afford to stay away.