Gaza ceasefire: Open letter November 2023

In November 2023, the open letter below was published in the Times newspaper.

Oxfam, Action Against Hunger UK, Christian Aid and CAFOD called for an immediate ceasefire. Along with over 300,000 of you.

Thank you.

Sign the petition and keep calling for a ceasefire with us.

Dear Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary,

We unequivocally condemn the appalling attacks by Hamas and the taking of hostages by armed groups in Gaza on 7th October.

The attacks shocked the world and all hostages must be released immediately and without conditions.

The Israeli government’s total siege and military bombardment of Gaza in response has caused a humanitarian catastrophe.

An area of land smaller than the Isle of Wight. Over 2 million people trapped, half of them forcibly displaced from their homes.

Nowhere is safe with airstrikes raining from the skies, day and night.

More than 8,000 people now dead, at least 40 per cent of them children.

Food, water, fuel and medical assistance have now been denied for over three weeks.

Barely a trickle of aid has been allowed in and without fuel, and whilst bombs continue to fall, an aid operation is impossible.

Children are trapped under rubble and no one is coming.

Doctors are operating in darkness without anaesthesia. People are drinking sea water. Sewage is running in the streets.

We should not have to remind you - even wars have rules and they bind all parties.

It is illegal to target civilians. Illegal to deny civilians food and water. Illegal to target hospitals and schools.

It is also illegal to encourage such actions. You have a duty to ensure respect for international law and the UK Government’s silence on a ceasefire is deafening.

With the 300,000 voices in the UK who signed our petitions, we urge you to stop standing on the side lines and back a permanent ceasefire, with full humanitarian access.

There are thousands of people still alive today, who don’t have to die tomorrow.

Signed,

Jean-Michel Grand, Executive Director, Action Against Hunger UK

Patrick Watt, CEO, Christian Aid

Christine Allen, Director, CAFOD

Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive, Oxfam GB