National March for Palestine

Israel continues to attack the remaining places offering refuge to Palestinians in Gaza. Saturday morning’s bombing of the al-Tabin school in Gaza City killed more than 100 people and injured dozens more, including women and children. It’s the fourth school in Gaza to be attacked by Israel in August alone, buildings which have been sheltering those whose homes have been systematically destroyed during the nine month assault.

In the wider region, tensions continue to grow following Israel’s assassination in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader and chief negotiator for a ceasefire. Iran has yet to respond to Israel’s attack – with Iranian senior officials saying that a Gaza ceasefire would prevent any retaliation. Hamas supports a proposal presented to it on 2 July but fear Israel will seek to impose new conditions in any new truce talks and have decided to stay away from this week’s talks.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government has announced plans to further expand its settlements in the occupied West Bank – despite a legal opinion from the International Court of Justice finding them illegal under international law.

Despite Israel’s egregious violations of international law, which includes charges of genocide, Britain has stood firm by Israel in the face of persistent public pressure at home. With MPs due to return to Parliament in September, we need to keep up this pressure and activism into the autumn, making the case for Britain to end its arms sales to Israel and work towards negotiating a lasting settlement in the region which includes a fully recognised Palestinian state.

Join us in Central London from 12 noon on 7 September for the Next National March for Palestine. More details TBC.