Gaza: Humanitarian Obligations

Alice Macdonald Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Alice Macdonald (Norwich North) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for leading this debate, and the people who signed the petition, of which there were 285 from Norwich North. As many Members have said, this is an important and timely debate because, although a ceasefire is now in place, there continues to be a devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Although I welcome the ceasefire and the release of the hostages, there is a long way to go to ensure that the peace is sustainable and the unimaginable human suffering ends. As we have heard, Israeli authorities continue to restrict humanitarian supplies going into Gaza, leading to a devastating shortage of food, medicine and lifesaving supplies. UN agencies have warned that the level of food assistance is still below what is needed, and they have called for more to be let in. That comes, of course, after years of conflict and a human toll that is unimaginable for many of us.

Many Members have touched on this, but I want to focus my remarks on the impact on women and girls. That is particularly timely, given that tomorrow is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and this year marks 25 years since the agreement of the landmark UN resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. Yet 25 years on, we are failing women and girls not only in Gaza, but in Sudan, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and many other places. We should also recognise the devastating impact of the 7 October attacks on women, with many horrific reports. There must be accountability and no impunity for violence against women and girls, wherever it is found.

In Gaza, the crisis has had a devastating impact on all civilians, as we have heard, but women and girls have been disproportionately and uniquely affected in many ways. They make up 67% of the estimated 60,000 Palestinians killed. Health services have basically collapsed, meaning that women struggle to access sexual and reproductive health services.

As we have heard, that has a catastrophic impact on pregnant women. The UN estimates that 55,000 pregnant women have nowhere to seek medical help. Approximately 130 babies are born every day in conditions of acute risk, and one in five are born prematurely or suffering from complications. Let us imagine what should be one of the happiest times of someone’s life, but all they can do is hope and pray for the future of their baby, with no guarantee of good healthcare or essential medicines.

There are stories of mothers giving birth without anaesthesia or essential drugs, and reports of rising maternal and newborn deaths—and as the weather changes, that will get even worse. We know that the blockade has also produced human-made famine conditions in parts of Gaza, with catastrophic consequences for pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children. We know from evidence around the world that women and girls eat last and least in conflict. In conflict, violence and sexual violence surge, yet support services and legal services collapse. The chance of justice fades to barely even a glimmer.

Despite the dire situation, we must not see women and girls as only victims; they are also first responders and leaders. As ActionAid has rightly highlighted, Palestinian women and women’s rights organisations continue to lead humanitarian responses and community support, providing vital services, yet their work is far too often under-resourced and under-recognised.

That leads me on to what the UK and other Governments can and must do. First, diplomacy must remain a top priority to ensure the unfettered access for humanitarian aid and to uphold our obligations under international law. As a former member of the International Development Committee, I agree with its report from earlier this year—as referenced by my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran—that said we must lead on international humanitarian law. There is a gap for a nation state to lead on that, and the UK has a chance to fill it.

Secondly, we must prioritise long-term funding for humanitarian aid and ensure that a significant proportion of the aid we are delivering goes to women’s rights organisations. I ask the Minister to respond specifically to that point in his response: how are we tracking where our aid is going and whether it is reaching those grassroots women’s organisations on the frontline?

As the current chair of the all-party parliamentary group on the United Nations, I want to emphasise the important work of UNFPA—the United Nations Population Fund—which does vital work providing healthcare and safe spaces for women and girls. It is suffering from reductions in foreign aid from many countries, particularly the US, which is turning away from it. I hope that as we make difficult decisions about where our aid goes, we will continue to speak up and support its vital work.

We have also heard from many Members about the importance of UNRWA, which is no traditional aid agency. It effectively provides many functions akin to local government in the country, and it is vital to getting aid to people on the ground. I welcome the fact that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has paused its work on the ground, because the way that it was delivering aid went against all humanitarian principles. I hope that that pause remains in place and that it ceases to operate.

Thirdly, in line with UN resolution 1325, women must be meaningfully involved in peacebuilding processes and post-war recovery. The evidence is clear that peace processes last longer when women are involved, as we have seen in other contexts such as Liberia. Ensuring that women are at the table and have a voice is therefore not only the right thing to do, but in all our interests.

Lastly, it is welcome that the UK has a national action plan on women, peace and security—which was, in fact, drawn up under the last Government. I believe that Palestine is not currently a focus country for that, so I ask the Government to consider adding it and to work to ensure that Palestinian women and girls receive the same protections as women in other conflict contexts.

There are many other areas that I could have spoken about in this debate, and many Members have touched on them, but the impact on women and girls is one that we must not ignore, and that, sadly, is too often not spoken about. I know that upholding the rights of women and girls is something that the Foreign Secretary is strongly committed to—indeed, she published a piece today expressing the UK’s commitment to tackling violence against women and girls in particular—so I look forward to the Minister setting out how we will work to stand with women and girls in Gaza and beyond. This ceasefire is an important step forward, but it must lead to real change, to a two-state solution and to a just and lasting peace for Palestinians, Israelis and the whole region.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Mr Hamish Falconer)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Butler. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for opening the debate. I want to thank every hon. Member who has spoken with such clarity and conviction.

I was asked a number of questions over two and a half hours. If hon. Members will permit me, I intend to make a brief statement about the humanitarian situation before taking any interventions. I know that the voices in this Chamber echo the deep concern felt across the country—concern so strong that nearly 200,000 people signed the petition that brought us here today, including many of my own constituents in Lincoln. I know that, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh) says, this is not at all a fringe concern—it is on the minds of constituents represented by all of us, right across the country.

The ceasefire was achieved with great difficulty and in the face of great danger. It must hold. We must confront the humanitarian catastrophe that continues in Gaza. We must see the bodies of the hostages returned to their grieving families and move quickly from phase 1 to phase 2—reconstruction and recovery—to rebuild shattered lives. As we take peace plans forward, we must not lose focus on the catastrophic humanitarian situation. More than 69,000 people have lost their lives since October 2023. Tens of thousands have been wounded, most of them women and children, and over 90% of the population remains displaced. Our immediate priority must be aid—rapid, sustained and unrestricted. The international system can deliver at scale, but that is not happening on the ground.

As we speak, vital equipment and field hospitals are waiting just miles away, blocked by red tape. Winter, as many contributions have made clear, is closing in, and displaced families need shelter and basic services restored. The Israeli authorities must open all crossings without delay, and aid agencies and NGOs must be able to operate freely across the whole of Gaza. Restrictions on UNRWA and other UN agencies must be lifted. The system and the supplies exist. I was pleased to hear other colleagues who have seen them in el-Arish—as I have. The will in the UK exists. If the ceasefire and the 20-point plan are to succeed, the political block on aid must end.

I understand the frustration my colleagues expressed tonight. Let me reassure the House that the Government are doing all they can to support the ceasefire and get aid into Gaza. We have allocated £78 million for humanitarian and recovery support this year, including £20 million for water, sanitation and hygiene services. Over the past two years, we have restored funding to UNRWA and provided nearly £250 million in development assistance. I was challenged on whether that has made any difference to individuals in Gaza—it is 439,000 people who have received essential health care, 647,000 who have received food and over 300,000 who have gained access to clean water and sanitation.

Many hon. Members rightly challenged me and the Government to consider the individuals at the heart of this, rather than the numbers. I was in Yemen last week and saw a malnourished child in front of me at one of the healthcare clinics that we are supporting. The sight of a severely malnourished 11-month-old baby is a truly arresting one. It is a reminder to me, as I know it is to everyone in this House, that there are thousands of such children in Gaza.

We must do everything we can to ensure that the ceasefire holds and that the aid gets in. We have deployed UK advisers to the Civil-Military Co-ordination Centre to help to co-ordinate reconstruction and humanitarian efforts. In total, we are providing £116 million this year for humanitarian aid, economic development and strengthening PA governance and reform.

[Alice Macdonald]

I thank the Minister for giving way and for the speech he is making. It was announced today that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is ceasing operations. It was said that the GHF has shared lessons with the CMCC. Does the Minister think that it is important that we learn what not to do in delivering aid? We have seen that the best way to do that is through recognised organisations such as the UN. Will the Minister comment on the GHF statement today?

[Mr Falconer]

I thank my hon. Friend for that important contribution. I have been absolutely clear throughout that the GHF was no way to deliver aid. The cost to the people of Gaza was absolutely clear from the grim images of its operation that we saw day in and day out. It has always been the case that a system exists in order to provide aid across Gaza. It is not a perfect system, and where there are abuses of that system, they need to be investigated—I am very glad to hear from our partners that the looting of aid has considerably reduced following the ceasefire—but the system exists. The aid exists. It is the United Nations system. It is mentioned specifically in the 20-point plan. That is how aid must be distributed across Gaza.