Gaza cannot wait: UK aid agencies at risk of closure in Deir Al Balah

The following is a letter from twelve British aid agencies, co-signed by Interpal, to the UK Government urging for an immediate suspension of all arms transfers to Israel.

On 21 August, Israeli forces issued “evacuation orders” to areas in Deir Al Balah, including parts of the so-called “humanitarian zone” where thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter, and many UK humanitarian organisations have been operating with offices and staff based there. Several organisations, including Action For Humanity, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief UK and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), have been impacted with staff forced to flee and warehouses containing desperately needed humanitarian supplies now rendered inaccessible. The Government should be in no doubt what this means: more Palestinian children and families will be starved, deprived of medical care, and killed by preventable diseases on their watch.

As a group of UK charities and organisations working in and on Gaza, we are deeply concerned that the UK government is not acting with due urgency to protect Palestinian civilians from Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment and siege even as the humanitarian situation continues to rapidly deteriorate. We reiterate our call for the immediate suspension of ALL arms sales to the Government of Israel, and urge the UK to seek ways to enforce a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza to protect civilian life.

Since the election of the new UK government, more than 2,300 Palestinians have been killed, and at least 5,290 people have been injured. There have been at least 21 strikes on schools turned-shelters since 4 July, including the strike on Al-Tabai’in school which killed an estimated 90 people. Every passing day heralds more death, destruction and hopelessness in Gaza that could have been prevented.

It has been almost eight months since the International Court of Justice found that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza. Independent UN human right experts have concluded the same.

The gravity of that assessment should have signalled the end of Israel’s assault. And yet, absent any meaningful international action to stop it, Israel’s violence and deprivations against Palestinians since then have only worsened: since January, almost 100 schools have been damaged, more than 160 health workers have been killed, and humanitarian space is being rapidly shrunk day by day.

The sluggish pace of the government’s legal assessment on whether it should suspend arms transfers to Israel is inexplicable, given the clear and compelling evidence that Israel is violating international humanitarian law in Gaza, facilitated by military equipment and components for arms made in the UK.

The UK must immediately suspend ALL arms transfers to Israel, given the clear risk they might be used to commit or facilitate violations of international humanitarian law.

Any delay will be measured not in days or weeks, but in Palestinian lives.

Signatories:

1. Islamic Relief UK
2. Amos Trust
3. Action for Humanity
4. Caabu (Council for Arab British Understanding)
5. CAFOD
6. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)
7. Embrace the Middle East
8. War on Want
9. Interpal
10. Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR)
11. Amnesty International UK
12. Christian Aid