Eastwood urges Sunak to ‘tell Israel to stop collective punishment of people of Gaza’

The SDLP leader called on the British Prime Minister and other world leaders to insist on ‘a political solution that involves a Palestinian state for the Palestinian people’.

He was speaking during Prime Minister’s questions in the British House of Commons on Wednesday.

“A few short months ago, the world came to Belfast to celebrate the Good Friday agreement. At the heart of that agreement was the realisation that we could not use violence as a tool for revenge or to achieve our political aims.

"As 1,400 Israelis and almost 6,000 Palestinians lay dying or dead, when will the Prime Minister say enough is enough? When will he call for a ceasefire?

"When will he tell Israel to stop meting out collective punishment to the people of Gaza, and when will he and other world leaders insist on a political solution that involves a Palestinian state for the Palestinian people?” asked the Foyle MP.

Mr. Sunak began his response by insisting that Israel has a right to defend itself.

“As I said, an important principle is that Israel does have the right to defend itself under international law, to ensure that attacks like this one—which was brutal and horrific for its citizens—cannot happen again.

"We continue to support that position, but, as I said, from the start we have also wanted to ensure that humanitarian aid can go in and hostages and foreign nationals can come out.

"We recognise that that means there has to be a safer environment, which of course necessitates specific pauses, as distinct from a ceasefire. We discussed exactly this with our international partners yesterday at the United Nations and will continue to do so.

"As I made clear on Monday, we have doubled down on our efforts to find a better future for the Palestinian people. That has been a feature of all our diplomacy in the region, and we will continue to give all our efforts to making that happen,” he said.

History watching on Gaza siege