Murray writes to Flynn ahead of Gaza vote

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray has written to Stephen Flynn ahead of tomorrow’s Opposition Day debate on Gaza.

Dear Stephen,

Thanks for formally submitting your motion for your Opposition Day debate on Wednesday.

The issue of the current crisis in the Middle East is rightly a focus for us all at the moment.

The past few months have seen an appalling terrorist attack on Israel and the taking of hostages followed by intolerable loss of life and a dire humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza. We’ve all been shocked and deeply saddened by the heart-breaking loss of life we’ve seen in the Middle East. I know the strength of feeling among colleagues on this issue and how this is a matter of great concern to so many of our constituents and communities.

Since then, despite the demands of the international community, calls for Israel to show restraint have fallen on deaf ears, while the hostages taken by Hamas remain captive and rockets continue to be fired.

Despite the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ, the flow of aid into Gaza remains unacceptably restricted, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, the situation in the West Bank has continued to worsen and the risks of regional escalation have grown.

There is serious and growing international alarm at the prospect of Israel launching a military offensive in Rafah.

I fully appreciate the politics of the SNP having a sole focus on the Labour Party with your motion and debate but, as you know, it’s incumbent on those proposing motion to seek support from the whole House. On a matter of such importance, we must do all that we can in order for the House of Commons to speak with one voice.

In that spirit we have place an amendment to your motion that seeks the same immediate humanitarian ceasefire but broadens the proposition by outlining not just a much more wide ranging position than the SNP motion but gives a plan for how to get to the peace we all crave.

I enclose it for your information but be of clarity:

1. It demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. We support diplomatic mediation efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire. We believe an immediate humanitarian ceasefire will make these efforts more likely to succeed.
7. Israel must comply with the ICJ ruling. As Labour has made clear, the binding provisional measures issued by the court must be implemented in full.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Supports recognition of Palestine and makes clear 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.

The media over the last few days has reported that you “want to get a message out about Gaza”. I think we should be getting a message out with a credible plan that covers the entirety of the situation.

I hope you will accept our balanced and wide ranging amendment in good faith before the debate tomorrow so we can all turn our attention to working for the House to speak with one voice.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Murray MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland

Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South

Notes

The text of Labour’s amendment is below:

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.