It has been 606 days since the start of the war in Gaza and according to Gaza’s health ministry, as of 5 May, 52,615 people have died. The conflict has reached a turning point; a “dark new phase” as the Foreign Secretary David Lammy recently described it. Today, the US-backed organisation operating aid distribution centres in Gaza announced they would be closed all day. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told people in Gaza this morning, that “travel is prohibited…via the roads leading to the distribution centres, which are considered combat zones”. Entry into the areas around the distribution centres is “strictly prohibited”. This follows an 11-week blockade of aid, food and water into Gaza, and attacks by Israeli forces on Palestinians near aid distribution centres, the last of which left at least 27 Palestinians dead (Israel’s military has denied firing “near or within” the site).
On 19 May Keir Starmer signed a joint statement with the leaders of France and Canada strongly opposing Israel’s military operations. But has the Prime Minister’s position shifted tangibly yet? The UK has not recognised Palestine as an official nation and has not withdrawn from the F-35 jet fighter programme (the government’s riposte for not withdrawing is that remaining in the programme is important for Nato’s peace and security).
These were two issues which Hamish Falconer, the minister for the Middle East, was quizzed on for more than an hour in the House of Commons today. Falconer was called in front of MPs to answer an Urgent Question (UQ) from the Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, Paula Barker. In his statement to the House, Falconer said Israel’s block on aid into Gaza was “unjustified” and “inhumane”. He added: the Israeli government’s decision to “expand its military operations in Gaza and severely restrict aid, undermine” the push for peace and release of the remaining hostages. But he stopped short of telling MPs that any further action would be taken by the government.
Unusually, all MPs who spoke in the session were united in the belief that the violence in Gaza must end. A row of back-bench Labour MPs, all of whom had attended the Red Line for Palestine protest which congregated in Parliament Square earlier that day, and many of whom were wearing red, loomed at the back of the chamber. They were joined by the independent MP Zarah Sultana, who used her question to criticise Lammy (“It is a disgrace that the Foreign Secretary isn’t here. But it isn’t surprising.”) The group could be seen shaking their heads and rolling their eyes each time Falconer gave an unsatisfactory answer.
As the MP who brought the UQ, Barker kicked off proceedings, asking the minister, “what more evidence do we need to call this exactly what it is – a policy of annexation and genocide”. She added: “History will not look kindly on this government.” Richard Burgon asked why, if the government had sanctioned Vladimir Putin after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, would it not sanction Israeli politicians. “This reek of double standards,” he said, “Netanyahu will see the government as weak, weak, weak, a pushover and a joke.” Falconer responded: “Let us not pretend this government has done nothing. We have taken measures, and we will continue to do so.”
Meanwhile, various Conservative MPs also used this session to criticise the government. Kit Malthouse, the Tory MP for North West Hampshire pointed out that in the three weeks since Falconer last gave a commons statement on Gaza, Israel said it will establish 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. “It feels like the whole House has been played,” said Malthouse. “He shows up, he mouths the words and very occasionally the government leaks out just enough sanctions to keep the Labour benches from open revolt.” As Falconer responded (“I’m under no illusion of the severity of the situation we currently face”), Malthouse shouted back, incensed, “they’re killing dozens of people, every day”.
The 90-minute session ended flatly. In the minutes afterwards, Jeremy Corbyn took his moment to present his Ten-Minute Rule Bill, which he had hoped might force the government’s hand on Gaza, if sent to a vote of all MPs. (Falconer had already rejected Corbyn’s request during the UQ, “I do not see… what an independent inquiry would achieve”). Instead, it was waved through by the Deputy Speaker, who urged the independent MPs who had shouted “no” in order to force a vote, to retract their objection unless they actually meant it. They all did so. It is now up to the government to decide whether to progress the bill. Corbyn pointed out that today’s events in the Commons reveal that “some politicians have finally started to backtrack”. He added: “Perhaps they are frightened by the consequences of their inhumanity.”
It is clear now that the government can no longer rely on speeches and statements to convince MPs they are sufficiently committed to action on Gaza. Falconer’s defence that the government is waiting for something to change before its next move repeatedly fell flat. Because something has changed: Israel’s actions in Palestine are clearly no longer simply an act of self-defence – but of systematic aggression. The government has run out of time for equivocation on Gaza – it is already starting to look weak.
[See more: Inside No 10’s new dysfunction]
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