(Brighton, Pavilion)
(Green): Mr Speaker,
“Until the UK Government calls for an immediate ceasefire, it is
complicit in the horrors…in Gaza.”
Those are not my words but those of the head of Oxfam who,
like every single agency trying to operate on the ground, is
clear that aid cannot be effectively delivered while fighting
continues. More UK aid is of course welcome but even when it does
get through, it can result in what one Palestinian aid worker
calls
“bombing us on full stomachs.”
Some 24,000 people have already been killed so what will it take
for the Prime Minister to back a permanent bilateral ceasefire?
The Prime Minister: Of course we want to see a peaceful
resolution to this conflict as soon as possible. A sustainable
permanent ceasefire with an end to the destruction, fighting and
loss of life, the release of hostages and no resumption of
hostilities would of course be the best way forward, but in order
to achieve that a number of things need to happen: Hamas would
have to agree to release all the hostages; Hamas would have to no
longer be in charge of Gaza; the threat of more rocket attacks
from Hamas into Israel would have to end; and the Palestinian
Authority, boosted with assistance, would need to return to Gaza
in order to provide governance and aid. That is a sustainable
ceasefire that we will work very hard to bring about.
