Thank you to those who have contacted my office regarding the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, this will be going out via email as well as on social media.
From the outset of the escalation of the Israel – Hamas conflict I have worked to ensure that the concerns of my constituents are heard in the House of Commons and within the Labour Party.
The scenes we see daily, with the excessive loss of civilian life including thousands of children is a humanitarian catastrophe. It is for the international community to show leadership and set out how we move from where we are today, to where we must ultimately arrive.
This week the Labour Party tabled a motion in Parliament that called for action to see the safe return of hostages and to end the violence and suffering in Gaza.
To this end Labour’s amendment, which I supported, demanded;
• International law: UK’s commitment to the rules-based international order, international humanitarian law and the jurisdiction of the ICC to address the conduct of all parties in Gaza and Hamas’s attacks in Israel.
• Protection of civilians: immediate release of all hostages and reaffirm Israel’s right to defend its citizens from terrorism; believe all human life is equal and that there has been too much suffering, including far too many deaths of innocent civilians and children, over the past month in Gaza;
• Prevent escalation: the Government continue to work with the international community to prevent a wider escalation of the conflict in the region.
• Right to return: guarantee that people in Gaza who are forced to flee during this conflict can return to their homes.
• Illegal settlements: seek an end to the expansion of illegal settlements and settler violence in the West Bank.
• Humanitarian aid: and, while acknowledging the daily humanitarian pauses to allow in aid and the movement of civilians, believe they must be longer to deliver humanitarian assistance on a scale that begins to meet the desperate needs of the people of Gaza.
• A roadmap to peace: ensuring cessation of fighting as soon as possible and a credible, diplomatic and political process to deliver the lasting peace of a two-state solution.
I know that this amendment covers a lot of ground, and that the standalone demand for an immediate ceasefire might seem more direct, but the complexity and seriousness of the crisis demands nothing less than a fully considered roadmap to peace, grounded in the reality of where we and resolute in our commitment to end the horrors we see.
The brutal fact remains that both Hamas and Israel have ruled out a ceasefire, and we have not yet secured adequate protection of civilians who face a grave and real risk, whether they be the innocent citizens of Gaza, or the Israeli hostages still missing.
It is for them that the Official Opposition must offer more than protest in support. We have a moral duty to set out a roadmap to peace, and we must use what influence we do have to grow domestic and international support in this endeavour.
Labour’s approach is very much about establishing the building blocks that secures a long-term, secure and lasting end to this conflict. I am of course disappointed that the amendment tabled was not supported by the Conservative government, but I can assure you that our resolve remains.
I will continue to do everything I can to work to this end, including continuing to raise the issue in
Jim McMahon OBE MP 