Oral Answers to Questions

Rosena Allin-Khan Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Torcuil Crichton (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (Lab)]

9. What recent steps his Department has taken to help secure peace in the Middle East.

[Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) (Lab)]

11. What discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on civilian deaths in Gaza.

[Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)]

16. What steps he is taking to help restore the ceasefire in Gaza.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing this matter to the House’s attention. I strongly condemn all violence directed against journalists, and call on the Israeli authorities to make every effort to ensure that media workers across the region can conduct their work freely and safely. Deliberate targeting of journalists is entirely unacceptable. International humanitarian law offers protection to civilian journalists during any armed conflicts, and those laws should be abided by. I call for all attacks to be investigated and for those responsible to be prosecuted.

[Dr Allin-Khan]

Last week’s Nasser hospital bombings murdered many innocent people, including five journalists, and the double-tap method used was particularly barbaric. Article 79 of the Geneva convention states that journalists are civilians during war, and article 8 of the Rome statute makes it clear that attacking civilians in a hospital is a war crime. I agreed with The Guardian’s editorial yesterday when it stated that

“Israel wants to stop the world from seeing what it’s doing”.

Does the Foreign Secretary agree that the Nasser hospital bombings are a war crime, and what action will he be taking against Israel?

[Mr Lammy]

On 21 August the UK joined a Media Freedom Coalition statement calling on and urging Israel to allow immediate independent foreign media access and afford protection to journalists operating in Gaza. There must now be a full, independent investigation into what happened at the Nasser hospital, and my hon. Friend is right to call to mind the importance of abiding by international humanitarian law.