JJP lobbies all MPs to oppose the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza
On 7 April 2025, JJP wrote to all MPs about the resumption of Israel’s horrendous war on Gaza. We warned of the clear indications that Israel is about to try to expel the Palestinians into Egypt and Jordan, using an American threat to cut off US aid to force Egypt and Jordan to take them in. We urged the MPs to demand that our government join with other willing governments to impose severe diplomatic and economic consequences on the Israeli government if it does not desist.
Our letter is below:
Dear MP, 7 April 2025
We are Jews for Justice for Palestinians. With some 2,750 members, we are the largest Jewish peace group in the UK or Europe. You can view our principles and range of advocacy work on our website, jfjfp.com.
We are writing to you now about the resumption of Israel’s horrendous war on Gaza. We can do no better than quote from the 4 April report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“Since 18 March, and for more than two weeks, Israeli forces have escalated bombardment from the air, land and sea across the Gaza Strip and expanded ground operations, resulting in hundreds of casualties, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and large-scale displacement. Humanitarian operations have been stifled by a combination of expanded military activity, the Israeli government’s blockade on the entry of humanitarian aid and commercial supplies for more than a month, increased insecurity affecting humanitarian workers, and severe movement restrictions within Gaza.”
Senior OCHA officials cited “a callous disregard for human life and dignity,” “the acts of war that we see bear the hallmarks of atrocity crimes.”, “a war without limits,” that “defies decency, humanity and … the law”, and “As humanitarians … we cannot accept that Palestinian civilians are dehumanized to the point of being somehow unworthy of survival … [and] people’s survival is dependent on an aid system that itself is under attack.”1
More than 1,000 people have been killed and more than 280,000 displaced since 18 March. The total Palestinian death toll in Gaza since the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 now stands at more than 50,500, with more than14,000 missing, presumed dead.
The Hamas attack on Israeli civilians on 7 October 2023 was undoubtedly a war crime and crime against humanity, but as António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, said to the Security Council, “the deadly assault by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum… the Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation…”.2
Israel’s response to the attack, from it’s very start, has flouted the principles of proportionality and discrimination central to the protection of civilians in time of war, and therefore goes far beyond legitimate protection of its population. The authoritative scholars of genocide and holocaust studies who have spoken out publicly have come to the devastating conclusion that Israel is committing genocide.3
We are in a dangerous moment in which right-wing Israel finds a ready enabler in Donald Trump for its expansionism, its disregard for Palestinians’ political or human rights, and its willingness to apply unlimited lethal force to achieve its ends. On 20 March, Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, made a thinly veiled, public threat to cut off US aid to Egypt unless Egypt agreed to take in Palestinians to be expelled from Gaza. A day later, the Israeli Defence Minister announced the creation of a “Voluntary Emigration Bureau for Gaza residents interested in relocating to third countries.”4
It is becoming clear that the Israeli government intends to expel the Palestinians from Gaza, and to use United States pressure tactics to force Egypt and Jordan to accept them. Expressions of disapproval, however strong, will not deter them. We urge you to use your voice in your own party and in Parliament to demand that our government join with other willing governments to impose severe diplomatic and economic consequences on the Israeli government if it does not desist.
Arthur Goodman
Parliamentary and Diplomatic Officer
1. https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-277-gaza-strip
2. https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2023-10-24/secretary-generals-remarks-the-security-council-the-middle-east%C2%A0
3. https://jfjfp.com/voices/paper-on-legal-characterisation-of-israeli-assault-on-gaza/