Gaza and Humanitarian Aid

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Thursday 10th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Ms Vaz. I also want to pay tribute to the hon. Member for Birmingham Perry Barr (Ayoub Khan) for securing this important and timely debate.

A year on from the tragic terrorist attack by Hamas, with an estimated 101 people still being held hostage, we are seeing the devastating impact on innocent civilians caught up in this war. As we have heard, it is estimated that more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than 90,000 injured and up to 1.9 million internally displaced. Thousands of families are trapped, unable to leave their homes to find vital food and water, and many now face starvation.

Shortly after this conflict started I met with Islamic Relief UK, which is based in my constituency of Vauxhall and Camberwell Green. Staff spoke to me about the devastation and the impact on the ground in Gaza, including the bombing of their offices, and the fact that they lost contact with their aid workers for two days. Over the past year, Islamic Relief UK has distributed more than £26 million of aid to the people in Palestine. I pay tribute to Islamic Relief UK and the many other aid organisations and charities working on the ground, with their aid workers risking their own lives to help innocent civilians.

Along with many others, I welcomed the Foreign Secretary’s announcement, in his first statement to the House, that the UK would lift the pause on funding to UNRWA, and that an additional £21 million would be made available to support that work; but sadly, that money will be too late for the many people who have already died.

I had the opportunity to meet a senior representative from UNRWA last week, and he outlined three main challenges to me. The first was logistical: the vital aid continues to be blocked. There are an estimated 70 trucks going in, compared with the 400 pre this conflict. Moving aid around Gaza is nigh on impossible, with an estimated 30% of that aid being looted because people are just so desperate. Aid workers are being attacked.

The second was political: we all have to acknowledge the concerted attempt to discredit and undermine the work of UNRWA. As the Foreign Secretary stated:

“UNRWA is absolutely central to those efforts; no other agency can deliver aid on the scale needed.”—[Official Report, 19 July 2024; Vol. 752, c. 300.]

However, there are three Bills currently in the Knesset aimed at discrediting UNRWA’s operation in East Jerusalem, stripping its status as an aid agency and declaring it a terrorist organisation.

The third challenge was financial; there are still serious difficulties, and the largest donor—the US—has still not reinstated its funding. Is the Minister aware of today’s letter, co-signed by 15 leading aid agencies including Islamic Relief UK, Medical Aid for Palestinians and Oxfam, calling on the UK to continue to take a stand on upholding international law, to oppose the annexation in northern Gaza, to support the independence of the ICJ, and to review the sale of arms? As we enter the second year of this conflict, we restate our calls for an immediate ceasefire and lasting peace in the region.

Israel and Gaza

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Friday 19th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I am very grateful to have been asked a question by the new occupant of Robin Cook’s seat. He was a stalwart and a champion of this cause. I was grateful to come into this House when he was serving as Foreign Secretary, and in an article I wrote recently in Foreign Affairs I paid tribute to his work over many years.

The vote by the Knesset yesterday was hugely disappointing. We believe passionately in two states. I say to those who reject two states, “If you are a proponent of one state, you have to explain how everyone enjoys equality under the law. And if you are a proponent of no state, you are effectively suggesting that occupation continues.” That is unacceptable, I would have thought, to all Members of this House.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Lab/Co-op)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on becoming Foreign Secretary, and I welcome his statement outlining the restoration of UNRWA funding, for which Labour Members have been calling for a long time. He will remember that many of us have raised the issue of humanitarian aid. We met many aid organisations throughout the last Parliament, including Islamic Relief, which is based in my constituency, who told me, two days after 7 October, the harrowing story of losing contact with all their staff on the ground. We know that blockades and restrictions are key issues, so will he outline how they will be lifted so that urgent aid can get to the people who need it?

[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her question, and may I congratulate her on her remarkable speech at the beginning of the debate on the Address? She has also raised these issues before. We certainly share a Christian faith and have talked about our deep concern as people of faith, and I pay tribute to Islamic Relief for its work. One issue is that Rafah is now closed, and it needs to reopen. Another issue is not just the trucks getting across but the distribution once they are there. Very sadly, the picture that is now being painted is one of lawlessness in Gaza: widespread looting from the trucks that get across, and, very sadly, a driver losing his life yesterday. Her question is, as the people of Vauxhall and Camberwell Green would say, on point.

Israel and Gaza

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Monday 20th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

My hon. Friend makes a most interesting point. This smacks of an unworthy, indeed ludicrous, sense of moral equivalence between a murderous, proscribed terrorist organisation and the democratically elected Government of Israel, who are seeking to protect their citizens and recover their 124 remaining hostages.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)]

When we talk about the role of the ICC, it is not about whether it is moral but about making sure that a democratic state falls within the rule of international law. An estimated 35,000 people have been killed and 132 hostages are still being held. The Arab League has now called for an immediate ceasefire and the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in the west bank until a two-state solution is negotiated. Will the Deputy Foreign Secretary answer the question of my right hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy), which he failed to answer, on the offensive in Rafah? Will we join our American allies in responding to that by stopping the sale of all war components?

[Mr Mitchell]

That is not what the American Government have done. They suspended one shipment, but they have not stopped any other supply. To answer the first part of the hon. Lady’s question, the Government continue to seek a pause in the fighting, which could lead to a sustained ceasefire, as well as to getting the hostages out and aid in.

War in Gaza

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Tuesday 7th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

The right hon. Lady sets out the heart-rending reports that she has received. That is why the Government, with as much vigour and co-operation with our allies as possible, are trying to do the things that I have set out.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)]

The initial Israeli offence in Rafah began last night, and it has been described as “limited”. An operation is not limited if it results in the evacuation and forced displacement of around 100,000 people. An operation is not limited if it results in all crossings being closed, and humanitarian aid being completely halted. The House cannot downplay the significance of what is happening. The Minister said that the Government are doing everything they can, but will he make it clear from the Dispatch Box that the Government do not support this offensive, and that there must be consequences under international law if it goes ahead?

[Mr Mitchell]

The Government have made it absolutely clear that we have yet to see a plan in respect of any military operations in Rafah, but we have always made it clear that any such plans must abide by international humanitarian law.

Sudan: Government Response

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Monday 22nd April 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

The hon. Gentleman will understand the great difficulties in helping directly on the ground; I know the matter is of great interest, both to him and to the Prime Minister’s envoy for freedom of religion or belief, my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce). We must continue to find every possible way of supporting the important groups that he mentioned.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)]

I draw the Minister’s attention to a report on the BBC website, in case he has not read it, by Zeinab Mohammed Salih, a Sudanese journalist. She recalls:

“People have told me of ethnically targeted killings and sexual violence. They remain traumatised, months afterwards.”

The Minister may be aware that months before the war broke out, sexual violence and gender-based violence was being used against women. In June 2023, it was estimated that there were more than 60,000 survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan, and we continue to see reports of sexual violence. What steps are the Government taking to address that really important issue, and to prevent further cases of violence, and of rape being used as a war weapon?

[Mr Mitchell]

I am afraid that the hon. Lady is entirely right. We have read these reports and many others with horror. That is one of the reasons why we are supporting the Centre for Information Resilience, so that we can do everything we can to deter there being any question of impunity, but it is extraordinarily difficult. As she rightly said, what is happening in Darfur bears all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing.

Israel and Gaza

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Tuesday 26th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

In terms of the restrictions to which the hon. Gentleman refers, a little earlier I set out how I believe those restrictions can be mitigated, particularly in respect of the opening hours at various crossing points. There is also the need for more visas, some 50 of which I mentioned are pending. He may rest assured that the Government use our very strong relationships in the region with Egypt and Israel to propagate the case for more aid and more humanitarian relief getting in by all means. We also do more than that, because we were dropping food from the air only yesterday, thanks to the work of the Royal Air Force. We will do more of that if we cannot get more in through the road routes.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Minister will remember that last week, in the previous statement, I mentioned a briefing I had attended with other Members that was led by leading aid organisations, including Oxfam, Islamic Relief and Action Against Hunger. They detailed the scale of the suffering and the scale of the man-made famine. The Minister has been on his feet for more than an hour now, and he has mentioned all the different ways we are getting aid in, but the reality is that only 137 trucks entered Gaza yesterday, according to Oxfam. We know that pre-October it was 500 trucks a day. UNRWA is unmatched in its aid distribution. The Minister has said that. Does the Minister not agree that a way to mitigate this suffering, is to restore the funding to UNRWA now?

[Mr Mitchell]

The funding to UNRWA from Britain has not stopped; we are paid up effectively until the end of April. Let me reassure the hon. Lady that as soon we have seen the two reports to which I have referred, I very much hope that, subject to the necessary changes being made, we will indeed be able to commit to the future funding that she and I would like to see in the right circumstances.

Israel and Gaza

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

I very much agree with my right hon. and learned Friend that Hamas are using ordinary people in Gaza as a human shield. It is utterly repugnant as well as completely against international humanitarian law and, like him, I condemn it.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)]

Humanitarian organisations have been warning repeatedly that this would happen. A group of us met them last week, and when this conflict started I met Islamic Relief, which is based in my constituency. We now end up here, where we are seeing healthcare being attacked and systematically degraded. We are seeing no safe zones left. We are told of the onset of famine, and that the number of people being killed keeps rising. Will the Minister finally please listen to the calls of Members across this House, of the international communities and of the people working on the ground and call for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted aid?

[Mr Mitchell]

I have set out several times already today why calling for an immediate ceasefire may make us feel better but is not a practical resolution. That is why—[Interruption.] There is no difference between the analysis that the hon. Lady makes, and the NGOs in her constituency, and my analysis. The question is: what do we do about it? That is why Britain, along with our allies, is continuously, on a 24/7 basis, doing everything practical that we can to get more food and support into Gaza.

Israel and Gaza

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Tuesday 27th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

Our determination, which my hon. Friend articulates accurately, is to get that pause to enable the hostages to be released, and to get food in. That is the absolute burden of our activities. As I mentioned to the House, the number of trucks getting into Gaza is patchy. On Sunday, 94 trucks got in, but on 22 February 220 trucks got in, which was the highest number since 17 January. What the House can determine from those figures is that not enough aid is getting in, and we need a substantial increase in that number. That is why the negotiations we are pursuing are so important.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)]

We are less than two weeks from the start of Ramadan, and the general consensus is that the ground offensive in Rafah would add to an already catastrophic situation, as well as the Israeli operation in Gaza. More than 30,000 people have died. There is nowhere else for civilians in Gaza to go. Will the Government listen and join me, my constituents and many other people, to say that the only way we can stop this is to have an immediate ceasefire?

[Mr Mitchell]

I have explained to the House why calling for an immediate ceasefire will not make it happen. It is the events that go with the purpose of achieving a pause and then a ceasefire that command the full attention of His Majesty’s Government.

Israel and Gaza

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Tuesday 19th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. He is right that we are not calling for a ceasefire and hoping that somehow it becomes more permanent. What we are doing is calling for a sustainable ceasefire that allows us to move towards the political track, which will then deliver what he is calling for.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)]

I thank the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran). As we all get ready to celebrate Christmas with our families, she will be thinking desperately about her family, and I think about all the families who will not be together this Christmas.

Pauses are not enough to allow the rehabilitation of vital infrastructure. Due to repeated shutdowns of communications and internet services, Gaza is now in danger of becoming an information vacuum. Transparency is absolutely essential for holding military forces to account and preventing further humanitarian atrocities. Will the Minister please update the House on how the UK is working to ensure that the power and communications infrastructure is restored, so that we can get help and clarity for those in desperate need?

[Mr Mitchell]

We are working to get to that point, but we are not there at the moment. We need to do everything we can to reconnect vital infrastructure that has been destroyed. It is not just about people suffering the effects of kinetic activity; it is also about the effect of the lack of food and growing disease. The hon. Lady may rest assured that, in respect of the infrastructure to which she refers, we will do everything we can when we get the opportunity.

Oral Answers to Questions

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Tuesday 12th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

The hon. Lady will know that there is a specific track to pursue on this, and if she has not already been in touch with the crisis centre at the Foreign Office, that is what she should do immediately.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)]

Last week I was contacted by Kennington Bethlehem Link, a voluntary group dedicated to working with Israelis and Palestinians. It raised the case of Anas Abu Srour, who was arrested by the Israeli army. This week it was announced that he had been detained for six months in administrative detention, and the reason for his arrest is still unclear. A petition of support has been signed by over 6,000 people in nine days, so will the Minister please ask the Foreign Secretary to work urgently with his Israeli counterpart so that we can find out why he was imprisoned?

[Mr Mitchell]

If the hon. Lady will make available to me the full details of that case—assuming that she has not already told the Foreign Office—I will look into it for her and ensure she gets an answer.