UK MPs call on government to say if Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza
The UK Parliament
Dania Akkad reports in Middle East Eye on 20 March 2024:
British MPs have called on the UK government to say whether it has updated its assessment of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law in light of a worsening situation in Gaza, which a UN-backed assessment has found as being in a state of imminent famine.
During a heated parliamentary debate which unfolded over two hours on Tuesday, foreign office minister Andrew Mitchell was repeatedly asked by members of his own Conservative Party and opposition parties whether the government believed Israel was committing a war crime by starving Palestinians.
The debate came a day after a UN-backed report found that 300,000 Palestinians trapped in northern Gaza are facing famine with another 1.1 million starving.
“As we debate this topic, children are starving to death in Gaza. Babies are so malnourished that Unicef says that they do not have the energy to cry,” said Labour’s Zarah Sultana. “Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war to collectively punish the Palestinian people… will the minister finally admit that officials have warned him that Israel is breaking international humanitarian law?”
Mitchell said the government was “deeply concerned” about the growing risk of famine, and repeatedly stressed the efforts it is making to get humanitarian aid into Gaza as he conceded “Israel must do more”. “Air and sea deliveries cannot be a substitute for the delivery of aid through land routes,” he said. “We continued to press Israel to open more land crossings for longer, and with fewer screening requirements.”
But pressed for updates on the foreign office’s assessment of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law by both Labour’s David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, and the Conservatives’ Alicia Kearns, who heads the foreign affairs select committee, Mitchell could not be drawn to share details.
“In respect of international humanitarian law, we are going through the necessary legal processes, which are complex,” Mitchell said. “As soon as we are in a position to update the House on what we have set out clearly before, we will do so.”