Gaza: MSF UK calls on the UK government to act to stop the genocide

In this open letter to the UK government, MSF UK calls on the Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy to acknowledge and condemn the genocide in Gaza and act decisively to end the war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed by the Israeli government in Gaza.

The letter also calls for the end of all material and diplomatic support to the Israeli government, including arms transfers, and to allow unfettered access of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

DOWNLOAD THE OPEN LETTER

Dear Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary,

Genocide is being committed in Gaza. And the UK Government is complicit.

Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is an independent medical humanitarian organisation. We provide medical care to people affected by conflict and violence, epidemics and disasters. We also speak out about what we witness and experience.

At the beginning of April, we wrote to the Foreign Secretary detailing our first-hand observations of the medical and humanitarian catastrophes being inflicted on people in Gaza. We explained that what our colleagues in Gaza were seeing and experiencing was consistent with the description of ethnic cleansing and genocide provided by legal experts and human rights organisations. We requested a meeting to brief the Foreign Secretary further and to hear what concrete actions the UK planned to hold Israel to account for its atrocities against the Palestinian people.

We did not receive a response.

So, on 7 May, we wrote an open letter to you, Prime Minister, describing the use of starvation and collective punishment as weapons of war by the Israeli government against an entire population. We implored the UK Government to uphold its obligations as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to act under International Humanitarian Law to protect all civilians in Gaza. We also called on you to publicly condemn the Israeli government for the atrocities it is inflicting on the people of Gaza. We warned that failure to take immediate action and to adopt a clear position on these extensively documented and flagrant war crimes and breaches of international law would leave the UK Government at high risk of charges of complicity. We did not receive a response.

In fact, since 1 November 2023 we have repeatedly contacted the UK Government to provide evidence of atrocities directly witnessed and experienced by our nearly 1000 colleagues working in Gaza, to remind the UK of its power and its obligation to act, and to request an urgent high-level meeting.

We never received clear acknowledgment of the evidence that we have provided, nor have we ever been offered that meeting.

We can only conclude that the UK Government just does not want to acknowledge what everybody else can see: that genocide is being committed in Gaza, and it is being committed with the military, diplomatic, and material support of the UK.

Eventually, on 23 June, we did receive a letter from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer. It was woefully inadequate and did not address any of our points. It said only that “We need further action from the Israeli government now to lift all restrictions on aid, to enable the UN and aid partners to do their work, and to ensure that food and other critical supplies can reach people safely”.

But aid will not stop a genocide. We also need the Israeli government to stop the ethnic cleansing, the war crimes, the crimes against humanity, and to abide by international law and the rulings of the International Court of Justice. And we need the UK Government to abide by its legal obligations to prevent and to punish genocide.

Since October 2023, the entire population of the Gaza Strip has been subjected to relentless bombardment by the Israeli armed forces.

Gaza's healthcare system has been destroyed, and medical workers, including our MSF colleagues, are systematically targeted by the Israeli military.

Due to the siege imposed by Israel and the obstruction of humanitarian aid, more than two million people are currently on the brink of starvation, as part of a calculated strategy aimed at eradicating Palestinian society.

The Israeli-US food distribution scheme forces people in Gaza to choose between starvation or risking their lives for minimal supplies. With over 500 people killed and nearly 4,000 wounded while seeking food, this scheme is slaughter of an entire population masquerading as humanitarian aid.

So, today we write another open letter, demanding that the UK Government:

•    Acknowledges and respects the rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and acts decisively to end the war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed by the Israeli government in Gaza
•    Ends all military cooperation with Israel and suspends all arms transfers to its government
•    Ends all material and diplomatic support to the Israeli government
•    Speaks out to acknowledge and condemn the genocide in Gaza
•    Pushes to end the siege and allow unfettered access of humanitarian aid, including medical supplies, into Gaza
•    Creates a pathway for the evacuation of medical patients from Gaza to the UK to be treated

MSF has a responsibility to act with moral clarity and humanitarian consistency in the face of mass atrocities.

We ask you, Sir Keir Starmer and David Lammy: does the same not apply to you?

Yours sincerely,

Dr Rachael Craven    Dr Natalie Roberts
President, MSF UK    Executive Director, MSF UK