Since the temporary truce ended, Israel’s military assault on Gaza has intensified. Its indiscriminate bombardment continues, killing many hundreds of civilians and injuring thousands more.
Almost all of Gaza’s population are now displaced from their homes. Families forced to flee multiple times are staying in overcrowded and unhygienic shelters or sleeping on the streets as winter worsens.
Gaza’s health system is being systematically dismantled by Israel’s military action and siege. Meanwhile, a public health catastrophe of starvation, thirst and infectious disease looms.
People are living in constant fear of death. As Israel’s ground invasion expands in the south, where the population has nearly doubled with those who fled the north, it threatens more lives and irreversible destruction.
Colleagues tell us they feel they will soon have just three options: stay put and be bombed in their homes, move and starve to death or die of disease in overcrowded shelters, or be forced out of Gaza into Egypt.
UN human rights experts now warn of a “genocide in the making” if world leaders fail to act and achieve an immediate ceasefire.
We must not allow these horrors to continue. Our leaders must demand a ceasefire and act to uphold their Responsibility to Protect civilians from atrocity crimes, before it is too late.
The time to act is now. Please email your MP today and ask them to call on UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron to:
Take swift and urgent action to establish a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Urgently press Israel to lift its ‘total closure’ of Gaza, reopen its crossings, and allow the safe and unimpeded movement of aid (including fuel, food and medical supplies) and aid workers, medical personnel and sick and wounded people.
Oppose any action to coerce or forcibly transfer the population out of Gaza, and demand that Israel ensures the protection of Palestinian civilians wherever they are and guarantee that displaced people will be able to return to and rebuild their homes.
Demand that all parties comply with international humanitarian law, and ensure there are meaningful consequences for indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilians and essential infrastructure, including healthcare personnel and facilities, and accountability for perpetrators through independent mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court.
Massively upscale UK aid response to the humanitarian crisis, and mobilise UK Emergency Medical Teams to support relief efforts in Gaza, while not absolving Israel of its humanitarian duties as an occupying power.