Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond has signed a letter to the Foreign Secretary expressing dismay over the UK abstaining on a United Nations vote calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Flick was joined by nine other Conservative MPs who sent the letter to Lord Cameron this week.
It said: “We were dismayed to see the United Kingdom abstain on the resolution calling for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza at the United Nations General Assembly last week, when most of our allies such as France, Canada and Australia had voted in support.
“We were, however, encouraged by your calls for a ‘sustainable ceasefire by both sides’.
“The case for a ceasefire seems to us to be unanswerable with many thousands of civilians dead and injured, and close to two million forcibly displaced. “Thousands of bodies must surely still lie under the rubble.
“In particular, the number of women and children who have been killed is profoundly shocking.
“As you have said yourself, too many Palestinians have died.”
Flick and her colleagues said in the letter there were fears that a Palestinian population kettled into ever smaller areas, would see the spread of disease and starvation was a major concern.
“By any measure we are witnessing a catastrophe of precisely the kind the 1949 Geneva Conventions were supposed to prevent, it said.
“As such, it is unconscionable that we should make Gaza an exception to the rules and obligations those accords created.
“As you might know, over the last few weeks we have all privately expressed our anguish and dismay at the position taken by His Majesty’s government following the terrible atrocities of October 7th.
“We said we did not believe it was in the United Kingdom’s or Israel’s best long-term interests for them to flatten Gaza and massacre innocent Palestinians in pursuit of Hamas, nor that there was a viable military solution to dealing with such a terrorist organisation and to securing the urgent return of Israeli hostages.
“On the contrary, the brutalisation of the civilian Palestinian population is sure to lead to more extremism in the future.”
The MPs added it was increasingly clear the Israeli military strategy is neither proportionate nor targeted and that there is no serious prospect of success.
The group warned the Foreign Secretary that regional tensions were rising in response to the appalling scenes in Gaza, and the prospect of a wider conflict, either by accident or design, could happen.
“It is widely accepted across the world that lasting security for Israel, peace for the Palestinians, an end to the killing, and the defeat of Hamas, can only be achieved through politics and diplomacy and the establishment of two states.
“We therefore urge you to recognise that space must be created for the emergence of a new political reality, and that space requires an immediate ceasefire.”
Flick has visited the West Bank twice, including in May this year, and has seen the issues first hand.
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