Palestine solidarity demonstration in London, October 19

On Monday, October 28, the Israeli parliament voted to pass a law that banned the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) [1]. This ban comes as Israel has cut off northern Gaza completely where 400,000 civilians still remain. This has been turned into Israel's latest killing fields to try and exterminate the Palestinian people from their own lands. Invading Israeli tanks roll deeper into this part of Gaza and southern Lebanon. On Tuesday, October 29, the Israeli military bombed a residential building in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, killing at least 93 people and 25 children which is on top of the 1,000 who died from Israeli bombs in northern Gaza the week before.

Families in Jabalia forced to flee by US/Zionist aggression, October 21, 2024

This latest criminal move by the Israeli Zionist regime immediately brought outrage and condemnation across the world not only against Israel but against their "allies", particularly the US and Britain who continue to back and arm this genocidal war. The UN, as well as aid agencies, all rejected the unjustifiable and spurious allegations of the Israeli regime that UNRWA buildings and personnel are involved in the Palestinian armed resistance and therefore are also legitimate targets. On October 1, the UN announced that the report entitled "Genocide as colonial erasure" by Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, is now publicly available in all UN official languages [2]. Also what has been clearly documented over the last year is that Israeli forces have killed at least 237 UNRWA personnel with over 200 premises damaged or destroyed. They have killed more than 560 people seeking UN protection and dozens of UNRWA staff have been detained and reportedly tortured. The violence of the Israeli massacres has killed 42,000 Palestinian men, women and children.

Destruction left by Israeli massacre carried out in Beit Lahiya in Northern Gaza, October 28-29, 2024

On October 8, the same day that the Knesset banned UNRWA, Foreign Secretary David Lammy made a statement on the Middle East trying to justify the British government's support for Israeli actions against the Palestinians as well as against Lebanon and Iran. He mentioned nothing of concern for this latest move against the Palestinians in the banning of UNRWA. However, when asked by Kit Malthouse MP that if Israel will "proceed with the dismantling of UNRWA, making its job impossible, what will he do next? Will there be any consequence whatsoever for the Israeli Government?" Lammy claimed that in his reply to the Commons that "when I raised this issue with [Israeli] Foreign Minister Katz yesterday, he was at pains to explain that, although the Knesset could pass its bill today, that does not mean that it has to be implemented." This is a claim that even the BBC's diplomatic reporter, James Landale, says has not been confirmed by the Israeli Minister and he dismissed it as a "diplomatic" offering of "reassurance to one's allies in private".

However, there was no respite for the government at all when on Tuesday, October 9, Yasmin Qureshi, Labour MP for Bolton South and Walkden, asked as an urgent question to the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy "if he will make a statement on what assessment he has made of legislation approved by the Israeli Knesset to ban UNRWA".

David Lammy was not there. The Minister who answered and took part in the debate was the Foreign Office Minister Anneliese Dodds, who said little more than David Lammy's comments the day before, and seemed to suggest that a distinction between the Israeli government and the full Knesset was a justification for the cruel, punishing and vindictive ban, and that Britain should remain aloof therefore. The BBC diplomatic reporter, in commenting on this debate, said that "the calls for sanctions and trade curbs were deafening in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon" and in looking at the debate this was not an overstatement. Here are some of these MPs' comments opposing this latest Israeli crime against humanity in the UNRWA debate, which reflected that the government has no answer to the charge of complicity and does all it can to get off the hook in its refusal to condemn Israeli Zionism for its genocide and crimes against humanity [3].

Contributions to the House of Commons Debate, October 29, 2024, on Israel's UNRWA ban

Jeremy Corbyn, Independent MP for Islington North, said that: "in effect, the Knesset yesterday legislated for extraterritorial decisions over Gaza, the west bank and refugee camps, and decided that UNRWA is an illegal organisation within Israel. What sanctions will the UK Government take against Israel for that? The one thing Israel will understand is if we suspend arms supplies to it, because those are being used to create the humanitarian catastrophe that exists in Gaza and that is beginning to exist in the west bank as well. If we do not do that, British arms and American arms that come through Britain will be complicit in the destruction of life of the Palestinian people."

Clive Betts, Labour MP for Sheffield South East, said: "My right honourable friend said that we are at an end now, when it comes to Israeli excuses about why aid does not get in, but this is beyond excuses; this is potentially an act of deliberate policy to destroy the most effective aid route into Gaza. What are we actually going to do about it, if Israel continues to ignore our requests and pleas to it? I come back to the issue of sanctions. If Israeli Ministers decide to implement the Bill, are they not effectively engaging in an act of warfare by starvation? That is a breach of humanitarian law. Will we use sanctions against those Israeli Ministers who get involved in promoting this policy?"

Stephen Flynn, SNP MP for Aberdeen South, said: "Israel is once again choosing to block aid to a civilian population that it is bombing. It is sinister and it is collective punishment. Can the Minister outline a single red line that Israel can cross that would lead her to question its status as an ally of the United Kingdom?"

Simon Hoare, Conservative MP for North Dorset, said: "With 90% of the Knesset voting for the Bill yesterday, it is surely naive to suggest that it will not be enacted. Therefore, other preparations need to be made. Despite the strong urgings of the United States, the United Kingdom, the EU and others, the Israeli Parliament voted for the Bill, knowing full well the collective international view of that proposal. Do the Government now realise that the Israeli Government, and indeed Parliament, is effectively diplomatically flying solo when it comes to these issues? If, as we all believe, no other agency can step in at pace and at scale to deliver the aid that is clearly needed, then, as was said by the leader of the SNP-an unlikely bedfellow for me-the right hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Stephen Flynn), is this not now verging on the definition of collective punishment? The Government can no longer just either wring their hands or urge."

Ruth Cadbury, Labour MP for Brentwood and Isleworth, said: "Under international law, Palestinian refugees retain their right to return. By seeking to dismantle UNRWA, Israel could, as part of a wider plan, be pressurising Palestinian refugees to relinquish that right to return. Despite our Foreign Secretary and Governments of many other countries raising concerns and pleading with Israel, the Knesset went ahead with this vote. What additional pressure will the UK Government apply to Israel, which continues to violate international law and breach the UN charter?"

Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, said: "If the Knesset Bill is an indication of how Israel now sees international treaties and international law, there is surely no point in further negotiations on a free trade agreement with Israel? Should we not just end those negotiations now? "

Stella Creasy, Labour/Co-op MP for Walthamstow, said: "With winter on its way, as the Minister said, it is vital that we are clear about the importance of aid and of challenging all who obstruct it. The Israeli Finance Minister said that the starvation of 2 million people in Gaza might be 'justified and moral' in order to free the hostages. Let us be clear: the hostage families do not think that. The Israeli National Security Minister backed the protests against aid convoys reaching Gaza. I understand why the Minister says that she will not give a running commentary on sanctions, but if we do not have sanctions now, what else is open to us to send the clear message that aid must get to Gaza immediately?"

Andrew George, Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives, said: "The Government have to accept that the far-right Government of Israel are laughing behind their hands at us at the moment. They know that they are operating under the comfort blanket of a UK Government who say that they stand with Israel and that Israel has a right to defend itself. But when has murdering children in their hospital beds been tantamount to defence? In what way is the cold-blooded slaughter of 11,000 children tantamount to defence? Rather than the use of words to condemn the actions of Israel, why does the Minister not follow suggestions of many Members in the House today and start taking action to make the Israeli Government sit up?"

Paul Waugh, Labour/Co-op MP for Rochdale, said: "Has the Minister seen the latest letter from the Commissioner-General of UNRWA? It states unequivocally: 'Today, even as we look into the faces of children in Gaza, some of whom we know will die tomorrow, the rules-based international order is crumbling in a repetition of the horrors that led to the establishment of the United Nations.' Does she agree with him that the implementation of the UN mandate 'may become impossible without decisive intervention by the General Assembly' and UN Security Council members?"

Adnan Hussein, Independent MP for Blackburn, said: "These are the words of the United Nations humanitarian chief, Joyce Msuya: 'The entire population of north Gaza is at risk of dying.' If someone so high up in the United Nations is making statements of that nature, we can safely make the assertion that the onslaught on Gaza is genocidal in nature-the measure being intent, and not, as the Foreign Secretary alluded to yesterday, the volume of counted deaths. Will the Government alter their position on this matter? What will they do, by way of resolute action, to ensure that this crime against humanity is halted immediately? Words are not enough; action is needed."

The fact is MPs have put the question to Parliament that the government should stop Britain's complicity in Israeli genocide. This is in accord with the wishes of the working class and people but it is also most importantly the result of the movements of the working class and people in standing with the Palestinian people and their resistance. It is the just stand of the people that has given rise to such a debate in the Commons, confronting the government with complicity in genocide.

Notes
1. On October 28, the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) approved two laws aimed at blocking, in areas under Israeli control, the activity of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which services Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank. The first bill states that UNRWA will no longer "operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly," in Israel. The second bill states that the treaty between Israel and UNRWA, signed following the Six Day War in 1967, will expire within seven days of the bill passing its final voting in the Knesset.
2. Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 - Genocide as colonial erasure
https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/279/68/pdf/n2427968.pdf
3. For the full debate click here:
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2024-10-29/debates/7DD72593-8087-4DC2-83EB-A4CDFAC8FC0C/IsraelUNRWABan

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