Barbara Keeley Former Labour Member of Parliament for Worsley & Eccles South
In the House of Commons this week Barbara voted for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and supported Labour’s amendment which aims to pave the way for a permanent end to the fighting.
Around 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah with nowhere safe to go, having previously been told to flee there by the Israeli military. Rafah is also the gateway for aid to Gaza, at a time when the humanitarian situation is already dire and the UN says hundreds of thousands of people face starvation.
Any intensive military offensive in Rafah risks catastrophic consequences for the civilian population and fatal disruption to the humanitarian operation. Calls for Israel to show restraint have fallen on deaf ears and there is serious and growing international alarm at the prospect of Israel launching a military offensive in Rafah. Keir Starmer has been clear that any offensive in Rafah must not go ahead and the fighting must stop now.
There is a backdrop going back centuries to conflict in Israel and Palestine. Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attack on 7th October killed the highest number of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. Many hostages taken by Hamas at that time have still not been released, meaning families are frozen in uncertainty, anguish and pain.
These events were followed by an intolerable loss of life and a dire humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians have been killed and nearly two million people have been displaced. Despite the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice, the flow of aid into Gaza remains unacceptably restricted, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
Barbara Keeley MP said:
“I have been shocked and deeply saddened by the heart-breaking loss of life we have seen in the Middle East. I share the desire of many of my constituents for an end to the violence and suffering in Gaza.
“That is why this week I voted for Labour’s amendment which supports an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and aims to pave the way to a permanent end to the fighting and long-term peace.”
Barbara voted for Labour’s position, laid out below:
- An Israeli ground offensive in Rafah must not take place and aid must reach those in need. An offensive in Rafah would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences for Palestinian civilians and must be averted. Civilians in Gaza need rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief.
- Hamas must release and return all hostages. The families of the remaining hostages are frozen in uncertainty, anguish and pain and their continued detention is prolonging this war. They should be released and returned immediately.
- The government should join calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. The call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire aligns us with the position of key allies including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and reflects the language used by the UN Secretary General and supported by more than 150 countries. Our amendment calls on the UK Government to convene an urgent session of the UN Security Council to press this demand and to call for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief to be provided in Gaza.
- For a ceasefire to hold, all parties must comply with its terms. One sided demands that do not recognise the need to ensure that an attack like October 7th cannot happen again or do not condemn Hamas terrorism will not succeed. Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence.
- We support diplomatic mediation efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire. We believe an immediate humanitarian ceasefire will make these efforts more likely to succeed.
- Israel must comply with the International Court of Justice ruling. As Labour has made clear, the binding provisional measures issued by the Court must be implemented in full.
- Settlement expansion and settler violence must end. Settlements are illegal under international law and a serious barrier to peace that threaten the viability of a two state solution. Settler violence has reached dangerous new levels since October 7th.
- We need a political process towards a two state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a sovereign and viable Palestinian state. This is the only path to a just and lasting peace. A ceasefire with no political horizon will not be sustainable.
- Labour supports recognition of Palestine and makes clear that this must be a contribution to rather than outcome of a two state solution. Statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and not in the gift of any neighbour.
Full Labour Ceasefire Amendment text:
That this House believes that an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah risks catastrophic humanitarian consequences and therefore must not take place;
notes the intolerable loss of Palestinian life, the majority being women and children;
condemns the terrorism of Hamas who continue to hold hostages;
supports Australia, Canada and New Zealand’s calls for Hamas to release and return all hostages and for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which means an immediate stop to the fighting and a ceasefire that lasts and is observed by all sides, noting that Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence and that Israelis have the right to the assurance that the horror of 7th October cannot happen again;
therefore supports diplomatic mediation efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire;
demands that rapid and unimpeded humanitarian relief is provided in Gaza;
demands an end to settlement expansion and violence;
urges Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures;
calls for the UN Security Council to be meet urgently;
and urges all international partners to work together to establish a diplomatic process to deliver the peace of a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state, including working with international partners to recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to rather than outcome of that process, because statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and not in the gift of any neighbour.