Sarah Champion MP highlights a report calling for action to end deadly Israeli attacks on Palestinians, schools and UN aid agencies
Thousands of people with no electricity or running water. Tents standing in for homes, many of them constructed from pieces of plastic and carpet. A three-year-old child with a life-threatening injury to her neck and no way to treat it.
Eight months ago, members of my Committee were left stunned as Professor Nizam Mamode, a British surgeon recently returned from working in Gaza, detailed these horrific experiences.
I am not easily shocked, but Professor Mamode’s words stopped me in my tracks. I am sure they had a profound impact on the many people who saw the session online and on social media too. But what we heard that day was only a small insight into the tragedy unfolding in Gaza.
Since our session, thousands of children have tragically lost their lives in the conflict. It’s estimated that more than 50,000 children have been killed or injured since October 2023, according to UNICEF. But the true number is likely much higher. In any case, these figures cannot capture the full scale of the suffering experienced by innocent civilians in Gaza. Families are being forcibly displaced, and entire communities have been disrupted. People have been left without access to basic necessities such as food and water.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is performing a vital role in delivering essential medical, food and educational aid. In the last two years, UNRWA provided over 8.7 million medical consultations and gave over 283,000 routine vaccinations to children across the Gaza Strip since January 2024.
However, within the last month, six UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem were forcibly closed, including three within the Shu’fat refugee camp, leaving around 800 children without education. This is a violation of the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN. The consequences of restricting humanitarian aid are devastating and children are being denied their basic right to an education.
The UK Government needs to support UNRWA in the immediate reopening of these schools. As each day passes, children fall further behind in their education. But this is not just an educational crisis; it signals a much broader threat.
I raised concerns about this ratcheting up of tension in a letter to the Foreign Secretary in May. UNRWA operates health centres across East Jerusalem that serve 40,000 citizens. Closing schools sets a dangerous precedent for what comes after. Will these health centres be next?
UNRWA and many other important aid organisations are working to protect these vulnerable populations and should themselves be protected by international humanitarian law. Yet still they are being harassed and targeted in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Humanitarian aid workers deserve safety and the freedom to support those in need without fear.
The situation in Israel and Gaza is just one example: it has never been more dangerous to be an aid worker. More than 400 major attacks on aid workers were recorded by the Aid Worker Security Database in 2024, the highest number since their records began in 1997.
This is a deeply worrying trend. It led my Committee to publish a report in mid June on how the UK should respond to the growing incidences of states and non-states side-stepping or altogether ignoring their responsibilities to ensure safe delivery of aid to those who need it.
In our report, we argue that the UK must not protect its allies at the expense of unconditional support for international humanitarian law. Our Government should be an unabashed champion of international humanitarian law, ready to call out breaches wherever they take place, and ready too to explore creative new forms of diplomacy to keep civilians safe.
After all, it is only through working internationally and putting real collective pressure on states that we will achieve meaningful change. Isolated efforts are simply not enough. The UK, Canada and France’s recent joint statement on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank was an important example, as was the UK’s sanctions on Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. But we need to go much further. Real collaborative effort is essential if we want to bring this conflict to an end.
There is much more to be done; the lives of innocent civilians are at stake.
As I have said: the UK must do everything in its power to ensure aid can be delivered to the people of Gaza. No option must be left untried, and sadly, that is not yet the case.