Parliament returned on Monday to hear a statement from the Foreign Secretary David Miliband on the appalling slaughter in Gaza and the attempts by the Government to secure an immediate ceasefire though a British sponsored resolution of the United Nations Security Council. Sadly, despite indicating support for UN Resolution 1860, the USA abstained in the final vote. This sent a clear and deadly signal to the Israeli government that they could continue their murderous assault not just on the Hamas fighters but on innocent civilians, including thousands of women and children imprisoned in the Gaza strip.

The bombardment of Gaza began on 27^th December and has triggered outrage amongst many of my constituents. Over the Christmas parliamentary recess I worked with a group of MPs of all parties to produce a statement pressing the Government and the international community to do everything possible to stop both the Hamas rocket attacks and the Israeli military assault.

Our statement called for an end to the slaughter in Gaza and condemning the Israeli actions as “disproportionate and counter-productive to achieving either security for the people of Israel or peace in the Middle East.” The statement which has now been signed by over one hundred MPs of all parties also described the deliberate targeting of civilians and medical as “a breach of humanitarian law” and was published in the Guardian on 31^st December.

I was also one of the speakers at a well attended and emotional Gaza Crisis Meeting at Reading’s Pakistan Community Centre on 6^th January. My Reading East counterpart failed to attend but arranged for a statement to be read out which was poorly judged and badly received.

I told the meeting that what is happening in the Gaza Strip is an outrage and the indiscriminate bombings, shelling and killings, together with the invasion by Israeli troops must stop - as must the rocket attacks. The Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has made herself and international laughing stock with her claims that “there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” But what was happening inside the Gaza Strip - the world’s biggest prison camp - is no laughing matter. Thanks to Israel’s 18 month-long blockade, it was a humanitarian crisis even before the assault began - now it is a thousand times worse.

The situation report by the United Nations Office for the co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs makes grim reading:

“Gaza is now divided into two sections with internal movement within the Strip extremely dangerous. It is increasingly difficult for humanitarian staff to distribute aid or reach casualties. More than a million Gazans still have no electricity or water, and thousands of people have fled their homes for safe shelter. In addition the destruction of essential infrastructure including electricity, water and waste water, communications and roads, means that hospitals are unable to provide adequate intensive care to the high number of casualties. Ministry of Health figures as of 9^th January are 758 dead and at least 2470 injured since 27 December.”

In the light of all this, how could anyone deny there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza at the moment? There are 1.5 million Palestinians living as prisoners in a strip of land 25 miles long by seven miles wide under sustained military assault and without access to food, power, water and sanitation or proper medical facilities.

I have no doubt that the dreadful slaughter in Gaza has only served to harden attitudes amongst Palestinians and the Arab world and reduces the prospect of achieving peace in the Middle East based on an independent Palestine existing alongside a secure Israel.

Also published in the Reading Chronicle, 15 January 2001