Gaza: Humanitarian Obligations

Jeremy Corbyn Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind)]

I will be brief, Ms McVey. I simply say this: anyone who has observed what has happened in Gaza over the past 18 months must be disgusted and appalled at what they have seen—the deaths of children, the deaths of adults and the continued bombardment—and at the role that Britain has played in supplying arms to Israel that have contributed to all that. It is an utterly disgusting situation. History will be very harsh on European and north American politicians who stood by and allowed those weapons to be supplied, knowing full well what was happening to them, while we were watching genocide on live television.

Whole families have been destroyed. I have friends who send me stuff from the west bank and Gaza, and this weekend I was reading about one man who has been left looking after 26 grandchildren because all his children, his partner and his immediate family have been killed. He is an elderly man looking after 26 children, but that is not an unusual situation. He has no money or home, so he is trying to build a tent to house them all. That is the reality of what has happened because of this bombardment.

[Richard Burgon (Leeds East) (Lab)]

The right hon. Gentleman is vividly explaining the reality of what is happening in Gaza and the west bank. Does he agree that the Government of Israel are treating the international community with contempt, as well as the public the world over who are concerned about the genocide? Rather than treating the Government of Israel with kid gloves, this Government have a moral and legal obligation to introduce sanctions on Israel on the scale of those that have been rightly brought on Russia. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that a failure to do so will go down as a real abdication of moral and legal responsibility at this crucial time?

[Jeremy Corbyn]

By any measurement of humanity, the people of Gaza have suffered as grievously as anyone has ever suffered in any conflict in the world. More than 60,000 are already dead, with the rest living among rubble, starving and unable to get the basic needs of medical attention. That also affects children, as the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) pointed out.

We are looking at an utterly devastating situation, which the British Government have been told about many times. They resisted the calls for a ceasefire at the very beginning; we even had the now Prime Minister saying that it was a legitimate act of self-defence by Israel to deny food and water to people in Gaza. Both the Conservative and Labour Governments have a pretty bad record on this, and I would have thought that the very least we could do now is say that there can be absolutely no arms sales of any sort or any military co-operation with Israel.

The so-called ceasefire in the Trump plan basically ensures Israel’s continued occupation of substantial parts of Gaza. It does not say very much about the abominable behaviour of Israeli armed settlers on the west bank, who are destroying villages and killing people as we speak. Surely this House needs to send the strong message that we recognise the right of the Palestinian people to live in peace, as well as recognising the importance and primacy of international law—the hon. Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) made that point very strongly.

The hon. Member and I have visited the International Court of Justice at The Hague, and I sat through the entire hearing when South Africa made its application—a moving and fascinating experience. The case was made brilliantly by South Africa, which was condemned by Members on both sides of the House for even bringing the case of genocide against Israel. While it put its case, I was looking at the wonderful ceiling in the Peace Palace and thinking back to when all South Africa’s current leaders were called terrorists and denounced for undermining and upsetting the apartheid regime. They finished apartheid, and then they gave their support to the people of Palestine—well done, South Africa, for having the bravery to do that.

We need to understand the importance of international law. If we believe in international law, as this Parliament and Britain always claim—we helped to write the European convention on human rights and the United Nations universal declaration of human rights—we must stand by it and ensure that the Israeli Government are taken to task for their breaches of human rights around the world.

[Mr Adnan Hussain (Blackburn) (Ind)]

I reiterate the right hon. Gentleman’s words: we cannot speak of recovery without first seeking and speaking of justice and accountability. Does he agree that all alleged breaches of international law, including accusations of genocide, must be investigated; that those responsible must be held to account; and that the people of Gaza deserve not only immediate relief but a future built on justice? Does he agree that peace is impossible without justice?

[Jeremy Corbyn]

The hon. Gentleman is a lawyer himself and far better qualified than me on these matters. I absolutely agree that justice requires us to act, otherwise we undermine the whole principle of international law. The long arm of international law might even reach to us—yes, to Britain—because we knowingly supplied weapons. We did that knowing that a genocide was going on, which makes us complicit in that genocide.

[Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD)]

This issue has a huge reach. Here we are in London discussing it, but I know that since I was re-elected in the summer of last year, every week a vigil has been held for the people of Gaza by concerned, decent people in Ullapool in Wester Ross, very far from here. The milk of human kindness still flows, and we should take courage from that.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I welcome the hon. Member being returned to the House, as well as the comments that he has just made. The support for Gaza has been incredible, despite the denunciations of all the national demonstrations, which were called “hate marches” by the then Home Secretary. I have been on all 36 of them; I have spoken at every single one and I will continue to do that.

I also recognise that all over the country, small and medium-sized demonstrations are being held in often very small communities. I think that well over 2 million people in this country have shown some degree of support for the Palestinian people through meetings, marches, demonstrations, emails, petitions, letters—a whole lot of things. This issue has moved people deeply, and those demonstrations have made a difference. The rhetoric by both the Conservative and Labour Governments started to change as the demonstrations got bigger; things have begun to change, and people have begun to understand the horror of the life of the Palestinian people.

I will finish with this point, because other Members wish to speak. It is becoming winter in Gaza and the west bank, and despite their latitude, it is actually very cold there in winter. Long before the current bombardment, I recall once being an election observer in Gaza in January, and the weather was bitterly cold and horrible—I thought it was terrible then, but it is a thousand times worse now. People will be dying of cold and hypothermia when there are stacks of tents on the other side of the border in Israel that are not being allowed in. People will be dying because of operations conducted without anaesthetic when plenty of anaesthetics are available just across the border, waiting to get in from Egypt.

This is an abominable situation. Can we not as a House say quite bluntly to Israel, “You’re wrong. What you’re doing is illegal and immoral. History will judge you for being the people who committed genocide against the Palestinian people”?

--- Later in debate ---

[Lizzi Collinge]

I absolutely agree that Israel must release prisoners, particularly those who are there for their non-violent actions against the occupation. The Palestinians will need all talents, and the Israeli Government must take action on that.

I was speaking about the aftermath of the war in Iraq. Obviously, the situation in Gaza is not a carbon copy of what happened there; that was simply an example of where thoughtless implementation of a reasonable headline policy had an impact that went far beyond the stated intent.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

The hon. Lady is making a very interesting speech. As she rightly says, in the aftermath of the Iraq war, there was a de-Ba’athification policy, which had the effect of destroying all public services, allowing anyone to get weapons from the now dysfunctional army. It set off a whole chain of the most ghastly civil and local conflicts. That is a real danger. Things have to be maintained. In Gaza now, despite everything, there is still some degree of functionality in the operations of local government, which is attempting to make plans for the rebuilding of towns and villages all across Gaza. Surely we should be a little less judgmental of those involved and support them in trying to make a start on reconstruction.

[Lizzi Collinge]

I absolutely agree that we need to use the people on the ground, who know the area best, in rebuilding. The international community would be foolish not to look at previous post-war measures in other conflicts and learn the right lessons, because the people of Gaza cannot afford for preventable mistakes to be repeated. With an economy in ruins and a population traumatised by years of conflict, Palestinians need international help to rebuild.