Ann McKechin MP

Violence in Gaza and the isolation of Palestine

Ann McKechin (Glasgow, North) (Lab): I followed with interest the comments of the hon. Member for Reigate (Mr. Blunt). In the context of his comments about Iran, I can tell the House that during the spring recess I met a number of senior Iranian local authority officials who were over on a study tour at Glasgow university. That visit was sponsored by the Foreign Office, and I thought it was a useful way of exchanging views on a wide range of areas that did not involve the more controversial political issues that have bedevilled our relationship with Iran.

In the short time available, I want to highlight the situation in Gaza, which several colleagues have mentioned. The International Development Committee, on which I serve, produced its report on the occupied territories about 15 months ago, and it gives me no comfort to say that the pessimistic conclusions that we reached on the future of Gaza have largely come to pass.

Yesterday, we followed up that inquiry by taking evidence from John Ging, director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and his message about the reality of life today for those who live in Gaza bears repeating. He said:

“Since January this year, 344 people in Gaza including 60 innocent children have been killed and 756 injured. Rockets have been fired into Israel every day and three Israelis have been killed and 20 injured.”

Violence in Gaza between armed groups has become endemic and there is a culture of impunity. We have heard that the economy has effectively collapsed, with 80 per cent. living below the poverty line, and the price of food and basic necessities has rocketed.

We have reached the point where UNICEF is literally trying to stop sewage backing up through the manholes on the streets of Gaza. As colleagues have said, the efforts of the Quartet’s special representative to build the urgently needed sewerage plant in Beit Lahia have been frustrated by Israel’s restrictions on importing concrete and electric motors for generators.

Almost all journeys have to be undertaken by foot, be it to schools, hospitals or work. Medical facilities suffer the consequences of fuel cuts, with no capacity to deal with difficult cases. I read with despair the World Health Organisation list of people who died between October last year and March because they had to wait for permission to leave to seek urgent treatment in Israel or Egypt. Some died while waiting at crossing points, and others, such as a one-year-old female child with liver disease, are refused a permit for security reasons. She died in March. The list is deeply depressing.

John Ging advises that on Tuesday UNWRA received a supply of food to enable it to deliver food aid for roughly six days, after having had to freeze its operations for the previous three. However, there is no promise of future supplies, and half of Gaza’s bakeries have had to close for lack of cooking gas.

As my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Tom Levitt) said, the inescapable conclusion is that the residents of Gaza are enduring a collective punishment, as defined in international law, to a horrific extent, and there is apparently no end to it. Does the international community have to wait until an outbreak of cholera occurs before we decide that the current stalemate cannot be left unchallenged?

I join agencies such as Oxfam in praising the efforts of the Foreign Office and Department for International Development staff in Jerusalem, especially their attendance at the Israeli supreme court case on the challenges to the cuts to fuel and electricity, and their engagement with the Israeli authorities on that issue. Having met officials on our visit for our report 18 months ago, I know how hard they work there. However, that is simply not sufficient.

A new strategy is urgently required, and that includes facing up to the realities on the ground. Former President Jimmy Carter recently stated that little progress had been made since the Annapolis peace talks last November, and he is right. Construction of settlements on the west bank has continued, despite the pleas of our Government and others. In its evidence to our inquiry, the Department for International Development states: