Israel suffered the worst terror attack in its history on 7 October at the hands of Hamas, and Palestinian civilians continue to face a devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Conservative Party’s thoughts are with the families of those still held hostage, and every innocent life which has been lost or impacted by this conflict. Hamas must release the hostages who have been held in such cruel captivity for almost a year.
The Opposition supports Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international humanitarian law. Indeed, it is important that international humanitarian law be respected and civilians protected, and that as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel makes sure that humanitarian aid including food, water and shelter is available to people in Gaza.
The last Government, rightly, did everything it could to get aid in to Gaza as quickly as possible by land, sea and air, including by: trebling the UK’s aid commitment to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the last financial year, establishing a field hospital in Gaza, participating in numerous airdrops of aid, and providing a package of support to help set up a maritime aid corridor to Gaza. It is vital that the UK continues to provide much-needed humanitarian support to the people of Gaza, and continues to press Israel on its commitment to increase the amount of aid getting to Gaza.
Regarding the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Opposition has serious concerns about South Africa’s case, and do not believe it to be helpful in the goal of achieving a sustainable end to this conflict. Although formal determination of genocide should be based upon the final judgment of a competent court, Israel’s actions in Gaza cannot be described as genocide.
The Opposition strongly disagrees with the new Government’s suspension of 30 of arms export licences to Israel, announcing this decision on the day that Israel was burying murdered hostages, and within weeks of British military personnel and arms defending Israel from Iranian attack. Decisions like this also have important broader geopolitical implications, and we must be clear that there is no moral equivalence between Hamas and the democratically elected Government of Israel.