Parliament moves closer to setting up Iraq war-style inquiry into Gaza conflict
Parliament moved a step closer to setting up a probe after MPs agreed that the Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill should be listed for a debate later this year.
The draft new law would 'require the inquiry to consider any UK military, economic or political co-operation with Israel since October 2023', the month when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel and killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250 others.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has seen more than 54,000 people in Gaza killed, according to the territory's health ministry.
'Our future history books will report with shame those that had the opportunity to stop this carnage but failed to act to achieve it, and so we will continue our campaigns in this House and outside because we're appalled at what is happening,' the former Labour Party leader told the Commons.
Mr Corbyn, the Independent MP for Islington North, had earlier said: 'In the aftermath of the Iraq war, several attempts were made to establish an inquiry surrounding the conduct of the British military operations.
'The government of the day spent many years resisting those attempts and those demands for an inquiry, however, they could not prevent the inevitable and in 2016 we had the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry, which Sir John Chilcot had undertaken over several years.'
Mr Corbyn added that when he was the Labour leader, when the 12-volume report came out, he 'apologised on behalf of the Labour Party for the catastrophic decision to go to war in Iraq' and added: 'History is now repeating itself.'
He warned that 'human beings have endured a level of horror and inhumanity that should haunt us all forever – entire families wiped out, limbs strewn across the street, mothers screaming for their children buried under the rubble, human beings torn to pieces, doctors performing amputations without anaesthetic, children picking grass and dirt from the ground thinking they might find something edible to eat'.
Mr Corbyn alleged that the UK had a 'highly influential role in Israel's military operations', including by supplying weapons, and also said a future inquiry should seek the 'truth regarding the role of British military bases in Cyprus' and Government 'legal advice over an assessment of genocide'.
He said the inquiry would uncover the 'murky history of what's gone on, the murky arms sales and the complicity in appalling acts of genocide'.
Deputy Speaker Nus Ghani called 'order' when several MPs applauded, as Mr Corbyn presented his Bill.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Guardian
10 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Six children among 10 people killed at water collection point by Israeli strike
Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in talks meant to pause the 21-month war and free some Israeli hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington last week to discuss the deal with the Trump administration, but a new sticking point has emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce, raising questions over the feasibility of a new deal. Israel wants to keep forces in what it says is an important land corridor in southern Gaza. Hamas views the insistence on troops in that strip of land as an indication that Israel intends to continue the war once a temporary ceasefire expires. Israel says it will only end the war once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something it refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages, less than half said to be alive, in exchange for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. Throughout the war in Gaza, violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where funerals were held Sunday for two Palestinians, including Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet, 20, who was killed in an attack by Israeli settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry. In Gaza, officials at Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said it received 10 bodies after an Israeli strike on a water collection point in Nuseirat, also in central Gaza. Among the dead were six children, the hospital said. The Israeli military said it struck more than 150 targets over the past day, without commenting directly on the specific strikes. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group operates out of populated areas. In the October 7 2023 attack that sparked the war, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 57,800 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry. The ministry, under Gaza's Hamas-run government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
The Sun
14 minutes ago
- The Sun
Labour plotting tax raid on wealthy amid mounting fears of entrepreneurs fleeing the country
LABOUR are plotting to hike up taxes on the wealthy - amid mounting fears of entrepreneurs fleeing the country and hitting investment. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander insisted that working people will be protected but concerns are raised that investment in the UK could be hit. 1 The warning shot came as she revealed that a wealth tax wasn't spoken about 'directly' at a Cabinet away day at Chequers last week. Ministers could launch a raid on savings, investments or property in a bid to raise cash. But Ms Alexander insisted that 'fairness' would be at the heart of any decisions surrounding tax at the Budget taking place in the Autumn. But the comments pave the way for the wealthy and middle-class to be hit by tax hikes to fill Chancellor Rachel Reeves' financial black hole. Only last week, ex-Labour leader Lord Kinnock suggested a 2 per cent wealth tax on assets worth over £10 million. It comes after the Office of Budget Responsibility told of the 'daunting' risks to the UK public finances amid soaring debt. Ms Alexander told Sky News: 'I think your viewers would be surprised if we didn't recognise that at the Budget the Chancellor will need to look at the OBR forecast that is given to her and will make decisions in line with the fiscal rules that she has set out. 'We made a commitment in our manifesto not to be putting up taxes on people on modest incomes, working people. We have stuck to that. 'We haven't put up income tax. We haven't put up VAT apart from taking away those VAT tax reliefs that people who send their children to private school get, and we obviously haven't put up employee National Insurance.' Experts have said that the Chancellor may need to look to fill a black hole of around £20 billion to meet her fiscal rules. Labour have said they will not increase taxes on working people. They also have said they won't increase income tax, national insurance or VAT. When asked about 'fairness' in the tax system, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: "That sounds to me like a barely disguised reference to tax rises coming in the autumn." He added: "They can't get anything past their own back benches. The consequence of all of that is going to be tax rises for people who are working hard and on businesses. "It's nothing to do with fairness, it's a symptom of Labour failure."
Western Telegraph
15 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Six children among 10 people killed at water collection point by Israeli strike
Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in talks meant to pause the 21-month war and free some Israeli hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington last week to discuss the deal with the Trump administration, but a new sticking point has emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce, raising questions over the feasibility of a new deal. Israel wants to keep forces in what it says is an important land corridor in southern Gaza. Hamas views the insistence on troops in that strip of land as an indication that Israel intends to continue the war once a temporary ceasefire expires. Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip attend a rally demanding their release from Hamas captivity in Tel Aviv, Israel (Oded Balilty/AP) Israel says it will only end the war once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something it refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages, less than half said to be alive, in exchange for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. Throughout the war in Gaza, violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where funerals were held Sunday for two Palestinians, including Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet, 20, who was killed in an attack by Israeli settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry. In Gaza, officials at Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said it received 10 bodies after an Israeli strike on a water collection point in Nuseirat, also in central Gaza. Among the dead were six children, the hospital said. The Israeli military said it struck more than 150 targets over the past day, without commenting directly on the specific strikes. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group operates out of populated areas. In the October 7 2023 attack that sparked the war, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 57,800 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry. The ministry, under Gaza's Hamas-run government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
