Social care and health sector call for ceasefire in Gaza
Hundreds of social workers, social care workers, health and aid professionals have signed a petition urging Prime Minister Keir Starmer to act on the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.
The petition comes amid reports of an estimated 1,400* health workers among more than 50,000 people killed in Gaza during the Israeli government's military response to the October 7 Hamas attack in 2023.
Among the death toll is Palestinian doctor Hamid Al-Najjar who died along with nine of his ten children in an Israeli air strike.
The petition, which so far has nearly 700 signatures, calls on the Prime Minister to:
- impose an immediate embargo on arms sales and military assistance to the Israeli government
- demand an immediate ceasefire
- insist on unrestricted humanitarian aid to Gaza under international supervision, with sanctions imposed for failure to comply.
It follows an open letter signed by leading UK writers including Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan and Irvine Welsh, calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Social work lecturers Dr Robin Sen and Dr Yohai Hakak, who launched the petition, said: “Hundreds of health care workers and aid workers have been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces since October 2023, some targeted because of their roles.
“We wanted to give UK-based health care workers, aid workers and social care workers an opportunity to show solidarity with the people of Gaza at this time of dire need, and to provide a platform for them to join the mounting calls on our own government to, at long last, take concrete actions, easily at its disposal, to oppose the Israeli government's ongoing war crimes.”
They added: “The UK is a signatory of the Genocide Convention, which places an obligation on third states to 'employ all means reasonably available' to prevent genocide.”
A joint statement by BASW and the Social Workers Union (SWU) has also condemned the Israeli government’s “ongoing genocidal military action”.
It says: “We stand in solidarity with social work and other health and care professionals in Gaza and other Palestinian territories who are continuing to work under the most severe and inhumane duress.
“We recognise the importance of Israeli social workers joining in the international social work call for peace and equal human rights for Palestinians and we wish courage to those standing up against the Israeli government’s military onslaught.”
BASW and SWU called for an end to arms sales to Israel and the “safe passage of humanitarian aid”.
Earlier this week Starmer described the situation in Gaza as “intolerable” and “getting worse by the day”.
However, the petition says: “While the UK government has begun to acknowledge the scale of the crisis in Gaza in words, it has yet to act meaningfully.”
It continues: “Since October 2023, we have witnessed the unfolding of a devastating humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Amid escalating violence, health and aid workers have been directly targeted by Israeli armed forces. This has occurred alongside Israel’s continued obstruction of humanitarian aid, used as a tool of war – actions that defy international humanitarian law.”
The petition remains open to “all UK-based health, aid and social care workers” to sign and will be sent to the Prime Minister in mid-June.
*The 1,400 death toll of healthcare workers comes from Gaza's Health Ministry. A United Nations estimate in March put the figure at more than 1,000.