Thank you to everyone who has contacted me concerning the most recent vote on the ongoing crisis in Gaza.

I have been horrified by the continuation of this conflict, and by the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

While the Labour Party, the UK Government, and the international community have called on Israel to show restraint, these pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Meanwhile, the hostages taken by Hamas remain as captives and rockets continue to be fired.  Despite the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ, the flow of aid into Gaza remains unacceptably restricted, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. Alongside this, the situation in the West Bank has continued to worsen and the risks of regional escalation have grown.

As many of you may be aware, there is a vote today calling for a ceasefire. Labour has proposed an amendment which calls for an immediate ceasefire and for measures to build towards a two state solution.

Altogether, Labour’s proposed amendment makes clear that:

• An Israeli ground offensive in Rafah must not take place and aid must reach those in need. An offensive in Rafah would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences for Palestinian civilians and must be averted. Civilians in Gaza need rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief.
• Hamas must release and return all hostages. The families of the remaining hostages are frozen in uncertainty, anguish and pain and their continued detention is prolonging this war.  They should be released and returned immediately.
• The government should join calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. The call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire aligns us with the position of key allies including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and reflects the language used by the UN Secretary General and supported by more than 150 countries. Our amendment calls on the UK Government to convene an urgent session of the UN Security Council to press this demand and to call for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief to be provided in Gaza.
• For a ceasefire to hold, all parties must comply with its terms. One sided demands that do not recognise the need to ensure that an attack like October 7th cannot happen again or do not condemn Hamas terrorism will not succeed. Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence.
• We support diplomatic mediation efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire. We believe an immediate humanitarian ceasefire will make these efforts more likely to succeed.
• Israel must comply with the ICJ ruling. As Labour has made clear, the binding provisional measures issued by the court must be implemented in full.
• Settlement expansion and settler violence must end. Settlements are illegal under international law and a serious barrier to peace that threaten the viability of a two state solution. Settler violence has reached dangerous new levels since October 7th.
• We need a political process towards a two state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a sovereign and viable Palestinian state. This is the only path to a just and lasting peace. A ceasefire with no political horizon will not be sustainable.
• Supports recognition of Palestine and makes clear this must be a contribution to rather than outcome of a two state solution. Statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and not in the gift of any neighbour.

I will continue to support calls for an immediate, sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, and to push for a process which creates a two-state solution, with a secure Israel and a safe and viable Palestinian state co-existing.

Thank you again to all of those who have contacted me on this issue. I am, as ever, proud to represent a community which has shown such dedication to pushing for a longstanding and sustainable peace between both sides, and which has shown respect to the Jewish, Muslim, and Palestinian communities in Lewisham Deptford throughout this harrowing conflict.

Please see below for the full text of the proposed Labour amendment:

That this House believes that an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah risks catastrophic humanitarian consequences and therefore must not take place;

notes the intolerable loss of Palestinian life, the majority being women and children;

condemns the terrorism of Hamas who continue to hold hostages; 

supports Australia, Canada and New Zealand’s calls for Hamas to release and return all hostages and for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which means an immediate stop to the fighting and a ceasefire that lasts and is observed by all sides, noting that Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence and that Israelis have the right to the assurance that the horror of 7th October cannot happen again;

therefore supports diplomatic mediation efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire;

demands that rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief is provided in Gaza;

demands an end to settlement expansion and violence;

urges Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures;

calls for the UN Security Council to be meet urgently;

and urges all international partners to work together to establish a diplomatic process to deliver the peace of a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state, including working with international partners to recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to rather than outcome of that process, because statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and not in the gift of any neighbour.