Gaza: Humanitarian Obligations
Debate between Tahir Ali and Helen Hayes(4 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Butler. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for opening this important debate. I also thank the 1,351 residents of my constituency for signing the petition, a number that speaks to the extent of distress and concern that they feel about the situation in Gaza.
The ceasefire, which began on 10 October, is very welcome, enabling the remaining hostages to be released, the bodies of deceased hostages to be returned alongside the release of Palestinian detainees, and allowing Palestinians to return home. However, it is impossible to overstate how much devastation the people of Gaza have suffered over the past two years, and how much they continue to suffer. Almost everyone has been displaced, often multiple times. Loved ones have been killed. The people have faced starvation, a famine across Gaza, the risk of disease and the decimation of the healthcare system. Now they are returning home and finding only piles of rubble on the streets where they once lived.
There is an urgent need for humanitarian aid at scale to reach Gaza now, and every week and every month for the foreseeable future. There is an urgent need for food, medicine, shelter and blankets as we enter the winter months, and for the restoration of infrastructure, water supplies, communications, schools and healthcare facilities. This situation is not the result of a natural disaster, nor was it unavoidable; it is the result of the relentless bombardment of civilians, schools, hospitals, roads and infrastructure; the two-year restriction by the Israeli Government on humanitarian aid into Gaza at anything close to the scale that was needed; and the forced displacement of people from their homes and their land.
As we speak of reconstruction and humanitarian obligations, we must also speak of the need for justice and accountability under international law. The need to drive forward the humanitarian response and reconstruction is urgent, but that urgency cannot mean that the question of accountability for the many breaches of international humanitarian law by the Israeli Government and Hamas in Gaza, and by the Israeli Government in the west bank over the past two years, is forgotten.
Can the Minister update the House on the UK Government’s approach to justice and accountability in relation to the conflict in Gaza? What engagement has he had with the US, the UN and other partners on this issue, and how confident is he that, under the current plans, the question of accountability is not being dismissed? It is important that legal obligations are the starting point for the situation in Gaza. The ICJ determined in an advisory opinion in October 2025 that Israel, as an occupying power, has
“a general obligation to administer the territory for the benefit of the local population.”
It is really important that the failure to discharge that obligation does not become normalised.
Helen Hayes
I agree with my hon. Friend that we need unfettered access to aid in Gaza. I turn my attention now to the current humanitarian crisis. The ceasefire has restored the distribution of aid to the UN, which is best placed to undertake that complex task and should never have been forced to stop operating in that role. The situation remains desperate and there is still not unimpeded access. For example, there is a significant problem with getting tents for basic shelter into Gaza because of Israeli Government restrictions. Winter is fast approaching and there has been flooding in parts of Gaza. Tents are urgently needed for basic shelter. There is also an urgent need to restore the healthcare system to provide services to a population whose health is fragile in so many ways, and there is a particular need for healthcare services for women, because approximately 130 babies are born every day in Gaza in conditions of acute risk.