Let me say, firstly, that the scenes of suffering and bloodshed in Gaza are absolutely unacceptable and heart-breaking to witness.

Labour’s position on the conflict is that we support an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. In February we brought an amendment before Parliament which called for an immediate ceasefire; this amendment passed, but the Government then refused to respect the will of Parliament and deliver that message to the Israeli Government.

Labour has demanded that the Government restore funding to UNRWA immediately. That was our position even before the Colonna Report was published, but now that the UN’s independent report has exonerated UNRWA of all wrongdoing, there is absolutely no excuse for the Government to deny Palestinians the vital aid they need by withholding UNRWA funding.

Labour has also called for an immediate suspension of arms exports from the UK to Israel. We had been clear that if there was credible evidence or legal advice that British weapons were being used to violate international law, exports should cease, but the Government was refusing to publish the legal advice it had received, When Israel launched its appalling invasion of Rafah, no-one could plausibly argue that international law was not being breached and human rights violated.

Although UK exports account for only a tiny proportion of Israel’s arsenal of weapons, it is right that we should take a moral stance and refuse to send them arms. It is also the right thing to do legally, as under our export licensing regime we should not be selling arms where they could be used in breach of international law.

Since the very start of the conflict Labour has made clear that we respect the authority of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ). We supported the ICJ’s interim verdicts on Israel’s potential war crimes, and we support the ICC’s issuing of warrants for the arrests of Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Yahya Sinwar and others. We want to see those individuals – and anyone else responsible for carrying out atrocities during this dreadful war – held to account. Again, the Government has sought at every turn to undermine and reject the judgment of the ICC and the ICJ, despite pressure from Labour.

In terms of my activities on that issue, I have been consistently vocal in my support for the people of Palestine and my criticism of the Israeli Government. Below you can see my interventions in Parliament on various aspects of the crisis:

• Humanitarian aid for Gaza;
• Pushing for peace;
• Israel’s violations of international law (here and here);
• Ceasefire;
• Family reunification visa for Palestinians;
• Israel’s killing of British aid workers in Gaza (here and here).