“Will the Prime Minister make it clear to the Israeli Prime Minister he condemns his comments for standing in the way of peace”
Imran Hussain MP
By the Labour Outlook team
Following the latest US and UK military action against Houthi forces in Yemen, the Prime Minister made a statement to the Commons in which left MPs raised concerns with him about the need for the UK to take further action to prevent civilian deaths in the region, focusing primarily on the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Bradford East MP, Imran Hussain, who has previously resigned from the Labour frontbench to support an immediate ceasefire, identified the Israeli Prime Minister and his Cabinet and diplomatic representatives, for being an obstacle to peace. In his contribution, he said:
“The PM rightly states the majority of this house supports a two state solution to bring a lasting peace but this is not shared by Israeli PM Netanyahu, members of his far-right Cabinet nor the Israeli ambassador or the Israeli ambassador to the UK who openly advocates genocide on the UK air waves, who have all rejected an independent state of Palestine. Will the Prime Minister make it clear to the Israeli Prime Minister he condemns his comments for standing in the way of peace and will he condemn vile comments of Israeli ambassador who labelled every building in Gaza as a legitimate target for the Israeli military?”
I urged the Prime Minister today to condemn Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to recognise Palestine with a two-state solution, as well as the Israeli Ambassador’s declaration that every building in Gaza is a target.
— Imran Hussain MP (@Imran_HussainMP) January 23, 2024
Yet shamefully, he couldn't call out either of them. pic.twitter.com/1lRqgxL4nj
His concerns about the role of the Israeli political leadership preventing progress on peace talks and securing a ceasefire were echoed by John McDonnell, who set the scene by saying:
“At the moment the Houthi attacks are continuing on, there are attacks on US bases in Syria, the Hezbollah low-level war with Israel in Lebanon, in Gaza yesterday 24 Israeli military were killed, 24,000 Palestinians have now died – 25,000 we’re told – and we now listen this morning, we’re told a doctor amputating children’s limbs in Gaza without anaesthetic” before asking the PM, “Does he not realise that without an immediate ceasefire, any strategy, any hope of a strategy succeeding, will fail and that the Netanyahu Cabinet will now become an obstacle to peace, rather than a partner in peace?”
Battersea Labour MP Marsha De Cordova, echoed the calls for an immediate ceasefire by saying:
“The war in Gaza and the situation in the Middle East is worsening every day. We know that there are over 25,000 people have been killed, 10,000 children, and not to mention approximately 135 children are suffering from severe malnutrition. We know the only way to de-escalate this violence in Gaza and crisis in Red Sea is securing a ceasefire, not a pause, an immediate ceasefire. So why won’t the Prime Minister commit to calling for this so we can see an end to this humanitarian catastrophe and killing of innocent children.”
Apsana Begum, the MP for Poplar and Limehouse, repeated the demands for an immediate ceasefire, arguing:
“Further violence will not achieve peace. Aid agencies are warning that the UK/US continuing to bomb Yemen is threatening civilian populations and limiting humanitarian assistance reaching millions who are already enduring starvation. Instead of escalating risks to civilian populations in the region, why can’t the Prime Minister just support the growing and increasing calls internationally for an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Gaza, an end to the bloodshed in Gaza, end to attacks in Yemen, and support calls for peace, justice and human rights.”
And Socialist Campaign Group Secretary Richard Burgon, urged the UK Government to not only deploy diplomatic powers, but to end arms sales to Israel, saying:
“25,000 people have now been killed in Gaza, so isn’t it now time that our government did more than express sympathies but use its diplomatic powers to prevent more deaths there, starting by bringing a UN Security Council motion calling for an immediate ceasefire and ending arms sales to Israel?”
The Commons will further debate the situation in the Red Sea on Wednesday 24 January.
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