From the 3rd - 7th of January, when Parliament was in recess, I visited Israel as a part of a Parliamentary delegation to the areas of the country that were attacked by Hamas on the Gaza-border. I met Israeli President Issac Herzog, and discussed the Israeli response to the attack by Hamas and measures in place to see the hostages returned.
I also travelled to the Gaza border, as readers can see from the blue dot in the map pictured, to view the sites of the appalling attacks on innocent civilians in their kibbutz and on hundreds of young people attending the Nova music festival, and meet survivors.
I also met an extraordinary hero of that day, Rami Davidian, a farmer who rescued hundreds of civilians from the attack on October 7th by repeatedly driving to and from the Nova Music Festival during the attack, bravely risking his own life multiple times driving into the terrorist’s line of fire.
The ongoing conflict in the region continues to be one of the most pressing foreign policy matters that is being debated in Parliament. I support the words of the Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, in calling for a sustainable ceasefire following the return of all the hostages and the end of Hamas’ authoritarian rule of the Gaza strip. My visit to the region, and that of other parliamentarians, was at no cost to the taxpayer.
I also recently wrote a column for The Times giving my opinion about the judicial case in the International Court of Justice brought by South Africa.
You can read my article via the following link: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/south-africas-case-against-israel-is-a-dangerous-stunt-kdqv2gth7
I look forward to an end to the conflict, the safe return of the remaining hostages and the end of Hamas’ ability to attack Israel and brutalise Palestinian civilians.
(Photos: A map reference near the border with Gaza and Sir Michael Ellis MP in S’derot near the Gaza border)