The situation in Gaza has entered a new and horrific phase. I visited Israel and Palestine in September last year and in February because I am so concerned about the region and have been for a very long time.

I am in touch with people in the region, and aid agencies working on the ground and meeting regularly with the Government Minister, the Palestinian Ambassador, and other MPs all extremely concerned and raising all of the latest issues as they arise.

I have been working in aid for three decades, and my work was often in conflict and post-conflict. I worked in Bosnia during and after the war. I have never seen so little regard to usual international diplomacy and coordinated demands for a ceasefire from so many countries, including the UK, being ignored.

The new Government have taken very significant and important steps on recognising the International Criminal Court judgement, restoring the funding to UNWRA and suspending all arms contracts to Israel being used in Gaza.

The UK Government has restored funding to UNRWA, the UN agency working in the Palestinian Territories, committing £21 million in new funds. UNRWA supports more than 5.5 million Palestinians and almost 200 of its staff have died in this conflict. I saw the work of the agency in Palestine on my visits and met with senior staff recently and thank the agency for its lifesaving work.

It is my view that Israel’s actions continue to lead to immense loss of civilian life, widespread destruction to civilian infrastructure and immense suffering. Israel could reasonably do more to ensure lifesaving food and medical supplies reach Gazan civilians. If Israel’s personnel are responsible for incidents, they should be held accountable. All parties must abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL).

International humanitarian law must be upheld and the independence of international courts must be respected. I recognise the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction over Gaza.

There have also been constant and clear demands that Israel stop what is effectively a blockade on aid getting into Gaza – the Minister for the Middle East is making regular visits and calling on Israel to let more in. Still only around 70 lorries a day are getting in when 1000 are needed.

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The new Government has been clear that Israel must, in taking military action to support its legitimate right to self-defence, adhere to international humanitarian law (IHL). Immediately upon taking office, it therefore commissioned a review of UK arms exports licensing to Israel.

On September 2nd the Government announced the outcome of this review. It said that following a rigorous process in line with the UK’s legal obligations, it had concluded that there is a clear risk that military exports to Israel, where used for military operations in Gaza, might be used in serious violations of IHL. As a result, it has suspended approximately 30 licences for exports to Israel for items which could be used in the current conflict. This includes components for fighter aircraft, parts for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, naval systems and targeting equipment.

This is not a blanket ban on arms exports to Israel, which would include a ban on arms used for defensive purposes, which I believe would be inappropriate, especially when considering the recent Iranian attack on Israel. However, it effectively covers all arms exports for use in the current conflict in Gaza, except for key components of the F-35, which is part of an international collaborative programme that plays an important role in NATO and our support for Ukraine. As the Government has set out, it is not possible to suspend all F-35 licences without undermining the global F-35 supply chain that is crucial for the security of the UK and our allies.

I know that the Government will continue to assess Israel’s commitment to international humanitarian law and I have raised the Northern Gaza and West Bank latest escalation with the Foreign Secretary and he is raising these constantly. I can assure you that I will continue to monitor developments on this issue.

However, the Israeli government is not responding to usual diplomacy.

One visit from Senator Blinken is usually extremely important and significant, and he has visited 11 times but still not secured a ceasefire.

There is no agreement about who will negotiate, the terms of negotiation and very importantly who will enforce the peace.

There is very little hope in this situation but I am very glad that the new Government is taking this so seriously and taking so much action immediately and can assure you that I will continue to do all I can to urge for more action.