‘No collective punishment’: British MP supports Palestine after hospital attack
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi said that those responsible behind the attack on the hospital must be held accountable.
United Kingdom (UK) Member of Parliament Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi on Wednesday voiced concern over the missile attack on a Gaza hospital and the war between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel.
"After all the decades of suffering, injustice and occupation endured by the Palestinian people, yet more terrorism and scenes of bloodshed at Al-Ahli hospital are truly heart-wrenching," Dhesi said.
“We desperately need peace and humanitarian aid in blockaded Gaza," he added.
At least 500 people were killed in a strike on Gaza’s al-Ahli Arab Hospital, often called the Baptist Hospital, on Tuesday night. Palestinian officials blamed the explosion on one of the many Israeli bombs dropped on Gaza since it announced war against Hamas.
On its part, Israel denied any role behind the strike and claimed that the blast was caused by a misfired rocket shot by Hamas militants towards their country. The United States has also backed Israel's claim saying that intelligence shows that Tel Aviv was not to blame for the strike.
On Wednesday, Dhesi said that those responsible behind the attack on the hospital must be held accountable.
"International law must be adhered to. There should be no collective punishment of the Palestinian people."
He also sought to know from UK Secretary of State James Cleverly how the peace can be attained and what the British government is doing to supply humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.
Cleverly said that the UK is working relentlessly with countries neighbouring Israel and Gaza.
"I will be travelling to Egypt to try and work with them to facilitate humanitarian support," he said. "And we will work with those countries who will be able to influence the leadership in Gaza. We will not rest."
On the question of achieving peace, he added: “I think a good starting point would be terrorists not firing rockets from densely populated areas into Israel.”
Israel-Hamas war
Israel has put the Gaza Strip under a total blockade and has pounded it with air strikes since Hamas attacked its border towns in an unprecedented surprise attack on October 7, killing around 1400 people.
Over 2,500 Palestinians have died in the retaliatory action by Tel Aviv. Israel has put the Gaza Strip under a total blockade and has warned all those in the region to evacuate before an expected ground offensive. Concerns have been mounting globally about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip and fears that the war could metastasize into a broader regional conflict.
