Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation

Yuan Yang Excerpts

Tuesday 19th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Yuan Yang (Earley and Woodley) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I welcome this opportunity to discuss the ongoing atrocities in Gaza, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) for bringing this debate to Westminster Hall. I also thank my constituents who have made it here from Earley and Woodley. I know that this is a top issue of concern for them and for many of us across the country, and the amount of correspondence I receive on this issue far exceeds any other.

There is little more that I can add to what hon. Members have already said about the horrors we are seeing in Gaza. One of my constituents, who is a GP, described to me his trip to Gaza in 2015. He had been sent to inspect al-Ahli hospital, which had been bombed the previous year in 2014. That hospital was bombed once again over the last year, and through his contacts at the hospital, my constituent has told me that thankfully most of the staff there have survived. Against the odds, they amazingly continue to operate a very reduced service in that hospital.

Testimonies such as that of my constituent and his contacts are all the more rare because we are now seeing an effective blockade on information coming out of Gaza, and I want to touch on the issues facing journalists in the region. Many hon. Members have noted the horrific images and videos coming out of Gaza; however, we are seeing only a drop in the ocean of what is actually happening in the region. There are now almost no journalists left, and it has been one of the most deadly wars for journalists in history. Israeli forces have killed over 140 journalists according to Reporters Without Borders, 34 of whom were killed while working. I spoke to one journalist recently who described to me the following:

“Journalists have been targeted and it has been made difficult for them to leave. Their lives have been made miserable. In previous wars there were places possible to stay—but here the journalists can’t find anywhere. The inability to get images and reporting on the ground lessens the impact of reporting, and the inability of readers to understand what is happening there…Over time, the level of attention dissipates because readers are weary. The challenge for us is to find new ways of covering it.”

I know that a former colleague of mine made an extended and prolonged attempt to leave the region, and thankfully has done so, but there are many more journalists who have been unable to leave, despite being maimed and in severe difficulty. What can we do about that as an issue?

I thank the Government and the Minister for their existing attempts to get aid into the region, but the situation has now changed for the worse because of the blockage on UNRWA aid, as we heard from other Members. The UK needs to take leadership on this issue and I ask the Minister how the Government plan to vote tonight on the UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire. Many of my colleagues have already brought up the issue of sanctions, and it is important that we proceed with sanctions, particularly against the Israeli Finance Minister and the Israeli National Security Minister, in accordance with our obligations on humanitarian issues and under international law. Will the Minister consider these representations?