JJP writes to MPs about Rafah
On 8 May 2024, JJP wrote to all MPs asking them to demand that the government urge the American Administration to apply pressure to Israel to stop an invasion of Rafah.
Our letter is below:
Dear MP, 9 May 2024
It is clear the ferocious Israeli war on Gaza is now at an inflection point.
Israel has started an offensive in Rafah. It has taken possession of the Rafah side of the crossing into Egypt. It has dropped leaflets into the eastern districts of the city instructing the population to evacuate. Bombing of the city has continued. All this presages Prime Minister Netanyahu’s long-threatened, full-scale invasion of Rafah, causing untold further Palestinian civilian casualties, unless prevented by American pressure.
We are asking you to demand that our government urges the American Administration to apply that prerssure.
The American administration has been making contradictory statements about what it will agree to. Secretary of State Blinken issues the mild rebuke that “invading Rafah is not the best way” to deal with Hamas, but also says the Administration is firmly opposed to an Israeli invasion of Rafah unless Israel creates a much more credible evacuation plan for civilians than it has produced so far. An American shipment of ammunition to Israel is said to have been deliberately delayed as a warning that resupply will be stopped unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire.
Netanyahu has staked his political survival on the claim of completely destroying Hamas military capability by invading Rafah, even though retired Israeli generals have said that is not possible. He and his neo-fascist coalition partners are willing to cause thousands more Palestinian civilian casualties in pursuit of that chimera. He has reportedly been sabotaging the complicated hostage release-prisoner release-ceasefire negotiations whenever they have come close to agreement.
American pressure, including stringent conditions on resupplying weapons and ammunition to prevent further offensive actions, is the only way to stop Israel from deepening the humanitarian catastrophe by invading Rafah. We are asking you to demand that our government urges the American Administration to use its leverage on Israel to accept a ceasefire.
More widely, our government must join with others to insist that Israel ends the occupation and accepts the establishment of a Palestinian state, if necessary applying meaningful economic and diplomatic pressure on Israel. As long as Israel’s occupation and denial of Palestinian rights continues, the leaders and fighters killed today will be replaced by others tomorrow. Violence and instability will be endemic in the future as in the past.
Yours sincerely,
Arthur Goodman
Diplomatic and Parliamentary Officer