Gaza: Humanitarian Obligations

I beg to move,

That this House has considered e-petition 700682 relating to humanitarian obligations and Gaza.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. The petition was started in January 2025 and is titled “Urgently fulfil humanitarian obligations to Gaza”. It reads:

“Act to ensure delivery of fuel, food, aid, life saving services etc. We think this shouldn’t be dependent/on condition of Israeli facilitation as the Knesset voted against UNRWA access to Gaza. We think if military delivery of aid, airdrops, peacekeepers etc, are needed, then all be considered.

Israel does not agree to ceasefire and does not permit UNRWA access. We think the UK must find alternative means to deliver aid. We believe this must done urgently with urgent deadlines, with or without Israeli support.”

The Government responded to the petition in August, noting that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification had issued an alert warning that the worst-case scenario—famine—was unfolding. They also noted that

“All routes to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza are controlled by and must be approved by the Government of Israel.”

And, therefore, the UK

“has collaborated with regional partners on alternative routes for aid to get into Gaza, including air drops and a maritime corridor.”

I believe that this conflict has touched many people across the world. I am sure that every Member in this room will have received high numbers of correspondence from constituents about the ongoing situation. I know this is a topic my constituents care about deeply, and I am proud to be representing their views, as well as those of the nearly 200,000 people who signed the petition.

I thank my hon. Friend for introducing this debate. She has mentioned the number of people who signed the petition, which includes 715 people from my constituency. They will have given money to many of the UK aid agencies that are trying to get this aid in urgently. Does my hon. Friend agree that all the aid getting that urgency is a measure of the success of the British Government’s work with the Civil-Military Co-ordination Centre?

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting those important facts, and I agree with the points she raises.

I was contacted by a constituent on Friday who said:

“We are still not seeing enough food, medicine, tents or machinery required to clear roads, excavate bombed buildings to recover the dead, restore water and electricity and sewage treatment facilities being allowed through the Israeli blockade. I implore you to use all the influence you have to pressure the Prime Minister to at the very least publicly call out the atrocities that continue in Gaza.”

I receive many emails with that sentiment.

Since 7 October 2023, approximately 2,000 Israelis have been killed, including civilians and Israel Defence Forces soldiers, and more than 20,000 IDF soldiers have been injured. The Palestinian figures are as follows: almost 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza strip, and more than 170,000 have been injured. A UN impact report found that nearly 53% of those fatalities have been women, children and elderly people.

The hon. Lady touches on the burden that women and children are facing. Does she agree that, with 123,000 pregnant women across the west bank and Gaza living with severe malnutrition, inadequate medical care and soaring risks to themselves and their babies, it is incumbent on the Government to provide as much aid as possible so that those 123,000 pregnant women are supported?

I thank the hon. Member for raising that important issue, and I fully agree with him.

It is important to remember that this situation is fast moving and can change from day to day. The humanitarian aid reaching Gaza has been intermittent and has started and stopped repeatedly. It is vital to note that, since the ceasefire, only a fraction of the promised aid has actually reached Gaza.

Many of my constituents believe that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency is best placed to deliver aid in Gaza. Given that the International Court of Justice determined that Israel is under a legal obligation to facilitate the aid operations of UN agencies, including UNRWA, in the state of Palestine, does my hon. Friend agree that the UK Government need to take urgent action to ensure that its close ally acts in accordance with that determination?

I agree with the points made by my hon. Friend. I will be interested to hear the Minister’s response to this debate.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for leading this important debate. She is quite right that nearly 200,000 people have signed this very important petition at relatively short notice. The reality is that, as well as humanitarian aid not getting in, Israel continues to breach the ceasefire. Hundreds of Palestinians continue to die. Starvation and famine remain a reality for millions of Palestinians. Even basic needs like tents are not being provided, with children having to sleep in contaminated water. Many thousands are already at risk of disease.

Does my hon. Friend agree that the UK Government and the international community cannot continue to look on as though the whole situation has been resolved? As the Government have, quite rightly, imposed widespread sanctions against Russia for its war crimes in Ukraine, they need to do the same against Israel for its war crimes and continued genocide in Gaza.

Some of what my hon. Friend has raised will be said later in this debate. As I said previously, it will be important to hear the Minister’s response to today’s debate.

Humanitarian aid reaching Gaza has been intermittent, starting and stopping repeatedly. Since the ceasefire, only a fraction of promised aid has actually reached Gaza. I agree with the conclusion of the UN independent international commission of inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, which stated:

“Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

On 22 August 2025, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification confirmed that a famine is taking place in the Gaza governorate, and that more than half a million people face

“catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death.”

It also found that restricted access to humanitarian and commercial supplies of food and other essentials was a key driver of famine, saying:

“Since mid-March, access to both humanitarian and commercial supplies of food and other essential goods—including water, medicine, shelter and fuel—has remained critically restricted. A ‘tactical pause’ announced on 27 July failed to improve conditions as violence continued throughout the Strip—including airstrikes, shelling, and shooting.”

In October this year, I was pleased, along with other parliamentarians, to meet a senior member of UNRWA as part of our work with the British group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He told us how vital it was that UNRWA’s programme of aid be fully restored, given the conditions that my hon. Friend and others have described. Would she agree that it is vital to restore the programme in full?

I fully agree with that point.

The director general of the World Health Organisation stated:

“There are no fully-functioning hospitals in Gaza, and only 14 out of 36 are functioning at all.”

He also said:

“If you take the famine and combine it with a mental health problem, which we see is rampant, then the situation is a crisis for generations to come.”

The public health report of 13 November attributed the weakened healthcare system to ongoing attacks and resource shortages. The World Health Organisation also found that there is a chronic shortage of essential medical equipment and medicines. Additionally, ongoing fuel shortages in Gaza have restricted the mobility of humanitarian aid and healthcare workers.

As we approach winter and the weather gets colder, the need for humanitarian aid is intensifying. The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that heavy rain has already affected over 13,000 households across the Gaza strip, including hundreds of tents and makeshift shelters. As time passes, the need for items such as tents, blankets and tarps will only increase.

On 6 November, the United Nations stated that the Israeli authorities have rejected more than 100 requests to bring relief materials into Gaza since the ceasefire began. The UN further stated that:

“Since 10 October, more than 6,490 MT”—

metric tonnes—

“of UN-coordinated relief materials have been denied entry into Gaza. Of these, over 3,700 MT were rejected on the grounds that the organisations were not authorized to bring relief items into Gaza.”

To enable the safe transfer of aid, we must uphold the right to provide humanitarian relief to people in need. My constituent, Louie Findlater, was on the recent aid flotilla that came under drone attack. Louie returned safely, but other volunteers were kidnapped and wrongfully detained.

My other constituent, John Chapman, was delivering food with World Central Kitchen when his convoy was struck by an IDF missile. There has been no formal apology for his death, no compensation for his family and little accountability for what happened to him and the other British aid volunteers who have died. Does my hon. Friend therefore agree that humanitarian norms and red lines are not set in concrete, so if we fail to secure accountability for those crimes, and all the horrors of the last two years, the legacy of genocide in Gaza will be a concerning shift to a more dangerous world?

I agree with my hon. Friend.

Importantly, the United Nations update noted:

“Many international NGO partners continue to face difficulties in being registered in Israel, preventing them from bringing supplies into Gaza and operating at scale, and UNRWA continues to be banned by Israeli authorities from bringing in food and other supplies into Gaza.”

That refers to the October 2024 vote by the Israeli Parliament that banned UNRWA from conducting any activity or providing any service in Israel, including the areas of annexed East Jerusalem, Gaza and the west bank.

Another UN impact report found that, as of 5 November, 38% of households in the Gaza and north Gaza governorates relied on humanitarian aid as their primary source of food, and that figure was 54% of households in the Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis governorates. Shockingly, it also found that more than 90% of children under two years old consumed fewer than two food groups a day, with high-protein foods and micronutrient-rich items extremely scarce.

In his 20-point Gaza peace plan, President Trump specified:

“Upon acceptance of this agreement, full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip… Entry of distribution and aid in the Gaza Strip will proceed without interference from the two parties through the United Nations and its agencies, and the Red Crescent, in addition to other international institutions not associated in any manner with either party.”

It is worth noting that the Prime Minister welcomed that news, adding:

“This agreement must now be implemented in full, without delay, and accompanied by the immediate lifting of all restrictions on life-saving humanitarian aid to Gaza.”

Sadly, that has not happened.

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement since 10 October, but I will highlight a case that constituents have written to me about. Just eight days into the ceasefire, the Israeli military fired on a civilian vehicle, killing members of the Abu Shaaban family—seven children and three women who were simply trying to check on their home. The areas still under Israeli occupation beyond the yellow line are not demarcated and, with limited internet access, civilians in Gaza may not know which areas are in or out of Israeli military control. Such cases show how crucial it is that aid reaches Gaza and that peace is allowed to come to the region.

My hon. Friend is talking about the appalling impact of the lack of humanitarian aid in Gaza, especially on children. More than half the population of Gaza are children, and they have not only been missing food; they have missed two years of education. I recently met Save the Children and was told that 97% of Gaza’s schools are in rubble and the remaining 3% are used to house homeless people. Does my hon. Friend agree that the future prospects for peace depend on not only getting lifesaving humanitarian food in, but giving those children a future? We must get those schools reopened as fast as possible.

I agree with everything my hon. Friend says.

My hon. Friend has mentioned children. Last night I met Dr Mohammed Tahir, the doctor featured in the film “The Mission”. In that film, he is shown operating on children without anaesthesia, with dead children at his feet. Only 10%, at best, of medical supplies are getting through to Gaza at the moment. Can our Government not do more to enforce a greater supply?

I thank my right hon. Friend for that intervention; I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response in relation to these points.

As the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs notes,

“UNRWA continues to be banned by Israeli authorities from bringing in food and other supplies into Gaza.”

That further complicates matters, because it is important that aid is delivered by those trained to do so. Humanitarian aid is a specialist area, and organisations with experience cannot simply be replaced by others. We need co-ordination on access to aid to ensure that no single party has a monopoly or veto on what can enter Gaza.

The UK is a leader on the world stage, and British citizens are simply asking that we use our position to influence what needs to be done. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response and I ask him to use the significant diplomatic and economic leverage that the UK possesses to do as much as possible to allow aid to those desperately in need and to alleviate suffering.