Gaza Healthcare System

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Tuesday 24th February 2026 Westminster Hall

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir Jeremy. Clinicians have been targeted by arrests, torture and bullets, and 1,700 have been killed. Hospitals, clinics and ambulances have been destroyed by bombs and drones. Medical aid, equipment and pharmaceuticals have been blocked at the border. Patients have been denied healthcare for blasts and bullets, disease, infection, poor sanitation and malnutrition at unimaginable scales. Mental trauma has engulfed every mind. Sexual violence has violated innocent women and girls.

The crisis continues, yet where are we today? The right to healthcare—to life itself—has been destroyed. International humanitarian law has been breached and the International Court of Justice’s ruling has been undermined as daily violations occur, all while the IDF has destroyed every place where someone can heal. Apart from three field hospitals, three primary health centres and six medical points, all functioning health facilities are only partially functioning. As of 30 January, 18 hospitals, 105 primary healthcare centres and 233 medical points remain non-functional in Gaza.

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

My hon. Friend and I were at a meeting at which we heard from human rights and medical aid experts. I was struck by the figure that on the World Health Organisation wait list 18,500 people from Gaza are awaiting medical treatment. East Jerusalem hospitals have stated that they are able to care for 50 a day, so there is local provision available. Is my hon. Friend as distressed as I am that that is being refused? Perhaps she can elicit some response from the Minister.

[Rachael Maskell]

I absolutely am. I heard that evidence too. That passage for the whole of the Palestinian healthcare system must be opened. Even now, aid cannot enter Gaza. In four days’ time, 37 organisations will lose their registration to operate. The provision of healthcare, but also the whole humanitarian support network, will collapse. Although every step that the Government take is welcome, the response has been woefully inadequate, leaving people in an indescribable health crisis.

I will never forget the clinicians who have taken the time to inform us of the conditions that they work in, the scale of the challenges they face and the clinical choices they make. One clinician described having to make the choice of which child to save as they looked on at the little bodies writhing in pain and distorted by brutality. Yet the provision of healthcare, water, nutrition and sanitation will evaporate this week. If countries do not step up their efforts in the next few hours, disease will be enabled to spread further and faster.

I ask the Minister some questions. What specific demands has he made of the Israeli Government to release all 309 health workers who are being held as hostages and prisoners? Their skills are urgently needed. What specific demands has he made of the Israeli Government to extend the right of all NGOs providing healthcare or preventing ill health through food and sanitation projects to be allowed to continue their work in Gaza despite the registration scheme? When did he last call in the ambassador for Israel in the light of the immediate removal of the NGOs that deliver healthcare and vital humanitarian aid? If she does not extend those licences, why extend her stay in the UK? What has been her response? What sanctions will the UK Government apply to the Israeli Government for ending access to NGO support for humanitarian work in Gaza?

Finally, how has the Minister sought for people suffering in Gaza to move to East Jerusalem and the west bank where clinicians are ready to receive them? Given that it is our manufactured F-35 parts that have inflicted so many of these wounds, what more can the UK Government do to ensure that we provide the healthcare facilities, here and wherever we can, to save these precious lives?

Middle East and North Africa

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

We have talked at some length before about the actions we have taken, including sanctions against two Israeli Ministers. I will not, for reasons I have already alluded to, speculate on sanctions from the Dispatch Box.

On the questions about aid, it is absolutely incontrovertible that we have made tough decisions in relation to aid budgets, but we have to be clear on the restrictions that are in place, which no amount of money can overcome. We talked about the situation in Yemen, particularly in the Houthi-controlled areas. I am not saying that the overall volumes of aid do not matter, but the question that in all these contexts is most vital is whether access to the aid is allowed. We can spend an awful lot of money on aid that then ends up waiting in warehouses, and that is why we have been focused in the way that we have.

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

I welcome my hon. Friend’s statement. The lack of progress in Gaza is a real concern. On top of this, we have seen a shockingly callous display by the Israeli Government in their banning of 37 organisations. It is just incomprehensible. I want to focus on what is happening in the west bank, where people are being stripped of their land and murdered in cold blood. As the illegal settlements are expanded, when will the Government act in lockstep with international allies and use the legislative tools at their disposal, such as the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, so that we can stop the illegal trade that is happening and ensure that we are banning goods, services and investments from the illegal settlements?

[Mr Falconer]

I know that my hon. Friend has written to the Foreign Secretary and I on those questions, and I will respond fully to that letter. She knows that the Government are deeply concerned by the expansion in settlements and the violence associated with it. That is why we joined our E4 colleagues—France, Germany and Italy—in a statement. It is why we condemned the most recent announcements from the Israeli Government about settlements, and it is why we have continued to press them not just on the approval of settlements but on correspondent banking, which is an issue of vital importance to the Palestinian economy. It was good that there was a temporary extension of correspondent banking arrangements for the west bank, but that must be extended further.

International Human Rights Day 2025

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Wednesday 10th December 2025 Westminster Hall

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

I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for Penrith and Solway (Markus Campbell-Savours) on his excellent speech. We are celebrating International Human Rights Day, and the universal declaration of human rights was set up, as we all know, in the wake of the second world war, to set out the foundations for our rules-based system and our human rights. It stated that we are all equal and emphasised our common humanity.

These are the foundations for a peaceful world and peaceful societies, yet 77 years on from the universal declaration we have more global conflicts than ever. More than 60 were recorded by the UN for last year. There are conflicts on most continents, but we will be particularly aware of the conflicts in the middle east, in Palestine and Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen; in sub-Saharan Africa, in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic; and of course in Ukraine. But there are also conflicts in Asia—in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kashmir. We had a debate earlier on Kashmir—a very much unforgotten conflict. Also on that list are Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia.

Conflict particularly affects women and children. I was struck by the figure that one in six children globally is affected by or lives in an area where there is a conflict—one in six children globally is affected by conflict. As much as the moral imperative to work on this resonates with us, there is also a pragmatic aspect to our response. We know that 123 million people have been forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict and violence.

I want to mention Parliamentarians for Peace, which we set up in the wake of the terrorist attack in Israel in 2023 and the subsequent bombardment and killing of civilians in Gaza—again, particularly women and children. As parliamentarians, we have such an important role to play through our community leadership and by setting out our belief in and commitment to human rights and our common humanity. That is so important. We have a unique responsibility to engender cohesion, promote peace and support the conditions for peaceful societies. I am going to leave it there, but I will just emphasise this. I am glad that we are all here today and making these speeches, but there are a lot more whom we need to try to encourage to be part of the Parliamentarians for Peace movement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Debbie Abrahams]

Does the shadow Minister think that the Opposition’s current position has changed markedly from their position when they were in government?

[Wendy Morton]

We have made our position very clear when it comes to the defence budget. Obviously, as we get nearer to another election, we will set out more detail.

Today—International Human Rights Day 2025—is an important day. It is a really good opportunity for us all to come together, not just to highlight some of the many cases around the world but to show that the UK has a proud record of standing up for and defending those rights.

As the Opposition, it is important that we continue to hold Ministers to their word, because the protection of human rights goes far beyond party lines; it speaks to who we are as a nation and the role that we seek to play in the world. Let us work together across this House to ensure that the rights and freedoms we cherish become a lived reality for all.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Seema Malhotra]

The Foreign Secretary works closely with Cabinet colleagues on many issues, including overseas voter registration. We encourage all British nationals to register as overseas voters if they move or live abroad, and that has been the approach of successive Governments. We keep gov.uk under constant review, and British nationals abroad can contact their local embassy or high commission for further information.

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

Parliamentarians for Peace was set up in 2023 in the aftermath of the terror attack in Israel and the killings of innocent Gazan civilians. On International Human Rights Day next Wednesday, will the Foreign Secretary, her team and everyone here join us for the Parliamentarians for Peace vigil that we will be hosting?

[Mr Falconer]

I will do my utmost, as I am sure other Ministers will.

Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Access

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Wednesday 10th September 2025 Westminster Hall

[Melanie Ward]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I am sure that the Minister has heard what she said, and I have a lot more to say about how we can protect civilians and aid workers, too.

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

My hon. Friend is being very generous with her time. Just before this debate, I met Antoine Renard, who made a point to me about the disinformation that is being spread about rotten food, and emphasised the importance of having trusted NGOs, a point my hon. Friend made earlier in her speech. Does she agree that we must compel the President of the United States to recognise those points when he comes to the UK on a state visit next week?

[Melanie Ward]

My hon. Friend makes an important intervention. Indeed, this topic is riddled with misinformation and errant nonsense, put out there for political reasons; I am sure that we will hear some more of it later on.

The issue of access for aid workers has received much less attention than that of aid not being allowed into Gaza in the first place, but, to state the obvious, it is no use getting malnutrition treatment into a warzone without the skilled staff—whether local or international aid workers —who know how to use it. Being able to reach starving children is obviously essential to saving their lives.

There are many ways of denying humanitarian access: visa and permit restrictions that deny entry; failing to grant movement permission, which means not agreeing to give safe passage to humanitarian workers; putting in place requirements to hand over sensitive information about local staff and clients; threatening to close down banking; and making it simply too dangerous to work in an area. The Israeli Government are using every one of these tactics to shut down legitimate humanitarian operations in Gaza today. It is not Hamas that pay the price for that; it is starving children.

The Israeli Government have a new front in their war. It is against NGOs, including humanitarian aid charities, some of them British. As of yesterday, the Israeli Government have introduced new restrictions on NGO registration, which require international NGOs to share sensitive personal information about Palestinian employees or face termination of their humanitarian operations across the OPT. NGOs such as Medical Aid for Palestinians have made clear that such data-sharing would put lives at risk in such a dangerous context for aid workers, especially given the fact that 98% of aid workers killed have been Palestinian nationals.

One month ago, on 6 August, UN agencies and others issued a warning that, without immediate action, most international NGOs faced deregistration, which would force them to withdraw all international staff and prevent them from providing critical lifesaving aid to Palestinians. The deadline of 9 September passed yesterday; the evidence so far suggests that the staff of aid agencies that speak out about what they witness are being particularly targeted. As a former aid worker who has worked in a range of war zones, including Gaza, I know that advocacy about what we see is vital in trying to bring change.

The move to block international NGOs from operating in Gaza has been compounded since the chilling arrival of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in May. Let us call it what it is: a bunch of mercenaries, and a disgrace. Since the GHF was set up, more than 2,000 people have been killed in Gaza while seeking aid, in what has been described by Médecins Sans Frontières as “orchestrated killing”. A recent MSF report says that the majority of people attending their clinics after being shot at GHF hubs are

“covered in sand and dust from time spent lying on the ground while taking cover from bullets.”

It quotes one man as saying of the site:

“You find what seems like two million people gathered around five pallets of food. They tell you to enter, you go in, you grab what you can—maybe a can of fava beans, a can of hummus. Then a minute later, gunfire comes from every direction. Shells, gunfire—you can’t even hold onto your can of hummus. You don’t know where the gunfire is coming from.”

Three months after the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began its operations to supposedly provide humanitarian relief in Gaza, the integrated food security phase classification confirmed that Gaza was in famine for the first time. That is the grim reality of a situation where Israel attacks independent aid workers while its own so-called aid workers attack civilians. At least 531 aid workers and 1,590 health workers, overwhelmingly Palestinian nationals, have been killed in Gaza in the past two years.

Middle East

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I would refer to the remarks I have made before at this Dispatch Box. I recognise what is being said. I recognise the work of international scholars particularly, and the fine judgments that must be made by the ICC and the ICJ, but we have an important democratic principle that these decisions must be made by lawyers, and it is for Governments to act in the way that I have set out today.

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

I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and the extensive work that he, his team and his officials have done to secure the international coalition of allies in the recognition of the state of Palestine—although that has been very much undermined by the Israeli Cabinet and what it proposes in relation to the E1 annexation plan. Is there more we can do to extend this coalition and increase the level of sanctions to stop this Israeli behaviour? Is it appropriate to transfer the UNGA meeting from New York to Geneva, as was done in 1988, so that the Palestinian delegation can attend?

[Mr Lammy]

I do think we need further dialogue on the issue of Palestinian attendance at that meeting. I recognise that these decisions were made previously and held in Geneva, but I hope that we can have some reconsideration and that we can afford the delegation the same privileges that they have had for many years.

Middle East

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

The UK is clear that we expect Israel to adhere to its commitment that its presence in the area of separation in the south is both limited and temporary. I did press the Israeli Foreign Minister on Israel’s activity, which I worry destabilises the situation further.

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

I recognise the Foreign Secretary’s labours to get as many international allies on board and the importance of that, but clearly we must do more—this is not enough. Israel’s flaunting of international law and the devastating consequences of that—I understand that Israeli soldiers are reporting being told to kill children, to point and shoot—are completely unacceptable. As a starting point, perhaps we could ensure that we refuse the Israeli air force chief entry to the Royal International Air Tattoo. Also, as others have said, how will we get over here children who need care?

[Mr Lammy]

I said that I will look at what more we can do should children require medical aid in our own country. If what my hon. Friend says is correct, it would constitute a war crime, very clearly. We cannot have soldiers turning their guns on children. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on any decision that might come to me.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

The hon. Gentleman makes important points about the situation in the west bank—points that we have discussed in this Chamber before. We have condemned the violence and the expansion of illegal settlements in the west bank. There are a range of issues on which we profoundly disagree with the Israeli Government in relation to their approach to the west bank, and we will continue to raise those issues with force. I refer him to my previous answer about recognition.

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

Can my hon. Friend update me on the conference that was due to be held at the weekend but was postponed following the bombing of Iran by Israel, at which the potential for recognition was to be discussed?

Middle East

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Monday 23rd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I am very sorry to hear about the position of the hon. Member’s constituent and her baby. It must have been immensely stressful for them to make their way out of Iran in that way. She will know that we have been advising against travel to Iran since 2019. We are able to offer support on the border with Azerbaijan as best we can, but she will also know that the airspace is not open in Iran. If she gets in touch with the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer), of course we can look at this to see what learnings there may be.

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

I would first like to associate myself with the condolences to all those who have lost loved ones. We are increasingly seeing foreign leaders not only flout international law but ignore our international rules-based system, which was hard-won after the second world war. What is my right hon. Friend doing to ensure that we can get this back on track?

[Mr Lammy]

It was very appropriate to meet the Iranian Foreign Minister in Geneva, which in so many ways is the home, under the United Nations umbrella, of the multilateral system and the rules-based order. We were with him as the E3 and the EU to reinforce messages that we share with the United States and to try to broker a diplomatic solution, and we will keep trying.

Iran-Israel Conflict

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

Let me put on record my huge gratitude and respect for our diplomatic staff in Israel and Iran and across the region, and for their families and children who provide them with such support. To be absolutely clear, on Monday last week we had a tabletop exercise in Whitehall on Iran, which I chaired. There are contingency plans. None of us could have envisaged two crises at the same time—this one and India, which the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer), will talk about shortly—but our staff are standing ready.

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

I know that my right hon. Friend will be working tirelessly and using all his diplomatic skills and those of his office to resolve this new, immediate crisis, but as others have said, how will he balance that with getting aid in, a permanent ceasefire, getting hostages out and recognition?

[Mr Lammy]

Balance it we must, because those are the issues that we are currently dealing with. We remain determined to press for what we want to see in Gaza and to stand up for those we are hugely concerned about in the west bank—my hon. Friend will have seen the statement I made last week in relation to that—as well as being absolutely clear about Iran’s intent and capability at this time and what we must do to stop that.