Statement: The Unfolding Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza

The horrifying suffering and starvation in Gaza has left many of us in shock. The pain felt across our community in response to this ongoing catastrophe is both profound and entirely justified. These are the actions I am taking to support an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to advance urgent efforts aimed at alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people.

I continue to call for an end to the violence and to Israel’s cruel blockade, which reports show is leading to the risk of starvation and sickness on a truly sickening scale. Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are now being left with a choice between starvation or trying to access aid at completely unsafe militarised distribution points. The most recent reports state that this has resulted in almost 1000 killings of Palestinians seeking aid over the past weeks. As I made clear in early June, this was horrifyingly predictable once humanitarian principles were disregarded. Israel bears full responsibility for its decision to ban access to the UN aid agencies that we continue to support diplomatically and financially.

As we know, the dire conditions in Gaza have continued to grow worse for many months now, and have been accompanied by extremist rhetoric and announcements of utterly unacceptable plans from ministers in Israel’s government. At every stage, I have engaged with government Ministers who have informed me about the work they are doing to call out the abuses and exert pressure on Israel to stop, and I have pressed them to do more. This includes a meeting with Foreign Secretary David Lammy MP last month, and continuing regular meetings with Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer MP.

On 21 July, I spoke up again in Parliament about this rapidly worsening situation. I welcomed the government’s statement rightly condemning Israel’s restrictions on aid access and the associated killings, which was coordinated with 29 international partners, but noted that Israel had already rejected it. I noted that in the past the UK has used RAF airdrops of aid to break Israel’s cruel blockade, and asked what steps we would take to accomplish this again.

I have also called for sanctions on Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, specifically referencing his plan to force all of Gaza’s population into a single camp in the ruins of Rafah. This follows my Parliamentary question in June about the potential for sanctions on extremist Israeli cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, which was followed by the government’s confirmation that these sanctions have now been put in place.

I have continued to take action in support of medical evacuations of Palestinian children to the UK. After my questions on this issue in June to the Home Office and Foreign Office, I have now written to the Home Secretary to advocate for urgent increases in the number of humanitarian visas being granted to allow serious injured Palestinian children to come to the UK for treatment.

Following my letter to the Prime Minister in May, I have continued to support the recognition of the state of Palestine by the UK as soon as possible, coordinated alongside international partners for maximum diplomatic impact.

I am simply appalled that diplomatic persuasion and pressure have had so little impact since the brief and long-awaited ceasefire was violated earlier this year. There is still hope for a breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations and on humanitarian access, but I share the complete dismay about how long brutal violence and cruel policies have continued for, while the suffering of civilians trapped in Gaza has only grown worse.

I will continue to do everything I can to add our voice to the urgent calls for peace. I believe we must look after ourselves and one another too, and be conscious of the mental health challenges and social divisions these events are creating within our own communities.

Please note this is only a summary of my most recent actions. If you would like to know more about what I have done on this issue in Parliament since becoming an MP, you can search my interventions on the Hansard Website, read my previous statements on this website, or contact me at calvin.bailey.mp@parliament.uk to receive my regular Palestine Updates by email.