A delegation of women Labour MPs led by Ann Clwyd today took their protests at recent Israeli military action to the Israeli Embassy in London.  The MPs wanted to express their dismay at the killing of two Palestinian women, and the wounding of at least ten others, who were demonstrating against the siege of a mosque in Beit Hanoun last Friday.

The women Labour MPs, Phyllis Starkey, Helen Goodman, Madeleine Moon, Ann Cryer, Dawn Butler, Betty Williams, as well as Ann Clwyd, were met by the Israeli Deputy Ambassador, Talaya Lador-Fresher, and conveyed a letter of protest to the Ambassador and to the Israeli government.  They expressed their protests about the unacceptable risks faced by civilians during the Israeli Defence Force’s most recent incursion into Gaza.  Two women protesters, a 16 year-old boy, and two medical personnel were among those killed.

The MPs unreservedly condemned the continued firing of Palestinian rockets on civilian populations in Israel.  But the tactics now being adopted by Israel in Gaza, including extensive house-to house searches and the widespread use of snipers, were putting civilians directly in the front line.

They also expressed concern about reports that the Israelis are planning a broader and more extended offensive in Gaza.  More violence can only result in a further deterioration of the fragile humanitarian situation there.

Finally the MPs called for an immediate return to the negotiating table.  There can be no long-term resolution of the security problems in Israel and the Palestinian Occupied Territories until a comprehensive political agreement is reached.