North East MP calls for UK to stop selling arms to Israel after Gaza protest deaths

Grahame Morris, Labour MP for Easington, led a House of Commons debate on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, a strip of land west of Israel which is home to 1.8 million people.

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He highlighted recent protests, in which Palestinians in Gaza attempted to enter Israel and were met with lethal force from the Israeli army.

London-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians says more than 12,000 Palestinians were injured and at least 102 were killed.

Mr Morris said: “In some instances Israeli forces appear to have committed wilful killings, constituting war crimes.

He added: “We do need to have an inquiry, and we need to hold those responsible to account.”

The UK has approved exports of arms worth £490m to Israel since 2014, he said.

This included high-powered rifles similar to those used by the Israeli Defence Force in the Gaza protests.

So far it had not been shown that UK-manufactured weapons were used on the border, but US-made weapons had “clearly been used”, said Mr Morris.

He said: “The UK Government must immediately suspend all of its current arms sales to Israel.”

He called for a “comprehensive arms embargo that applies to Israel, Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups”.

Palestinian group Hamas has been accused for encouraging Palestinians to take guns and other weapons to the protest.

Mr Morris said he had also seen statements by Israeli politicians that appeared to encourage violence.

He said: “I condemn Hamas and I condemn those on the Israeli side who are responsible.”

Gaza is blockaded by Israel and Egypt, which also shares a border with the territory.

Oxfam says the blockade has devastated the economy and left people struggling to access clean water, food, medical care, education and to rebuild their homes.

Hamas, a hardline Islamist organisation, seized control of Gaza in 2007. Hamas’ military wing is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK Government.

The other major Palestinian territory is the West Bank, which is on the west bank of the River Jordan, to the east of Israel.

The West Bank is governed by Fatah, the largest faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which once waged an “armed struggle” against Israel but rejected “violence and terrorism” in 1993.

In return, Israel agreed to take part in a peace process designed to achieve Palestinian “self-determination”, usually taken to mean the creation of an independent Palestinian state including West Bank and Gaza. However, Israel retains effective control of the West Bank 25 years later and there is still no sign of a state being formed.