Gaza storms

Stop the fighting

When does an exhortation become a policy stance? Today seems set to be that point in Westminster, as MPs prepare to vote on a call for an immediate Gaza ceasefire.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron told the foreign affairs committee on Tuesday night that it was "difficult to see" how Israel would achieve a lawful operation in Rafah as it pursues the Hamas high command.

"We continue to urge Israel to ensure that it limits its operations to military targets and take all possible steps to avoid harming civilians and destroying homes,” Lord Cameron said.

"We do not underestimate the devastating humanitarian impacts that a full ground offensive, if enacted, would have in these circumstances."

Speaking on the road before the letter was released, he was even more pointed.

"We are calling for a stop to the fighting right now," Lord Cameron said. "We think that what we need is a pause in the fighting and the hostages to come out and aid to go in."

A key window for the entire Middle East is looming in these weeks leading up to Ramadan.

A vote in Parliament on Wednesday is initiated by the Scottish National Party, which is raising the stakes, especially for British Labour.

We will have more on Labour's dilemma next week when we look at the coming Rochdale by-election.

David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, spoke on Tuesday about Labour's proposed amendment, which calls on the UK government to support Australia, Canada and New Zealand’s calls for Hamas to release and return all hostages and for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

This means an immediate stop to the fighting and a ceasefire that lasts and is observed by all sides.

Eclipse of a rising star?

A British–Palestinian activist intent on taking on a senior Labour politician at the next general election said she is tapping into anger about his stance on Gaza, and hopes a national movement of independent candidates will create real change.

Leanne Mohamad is running against Wes Streeting after being selected to run by a local community group that is opposed to the Labour leadership’s decision not to call for an immediate ceasefire in fighting between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.

The Ilford North constituency has been held by Mr Streeting since 2015 and he has a majority of about 5,000.

It has a Muslim population of 23 per cent, which puts it outside the top 20 constituencies with the highest number of adherents to the faith.

Ms Mohamad said in her view Labour has been "out of step" with public opinion since the start of the fighting.

"It's taken five months before they've even considered calling for an immediate ceasefire {which] shows just how untenable their position has been," she said.

"It's only because of pressure by campaigners such as myself and the millions of protesters that the message appears to have got through."

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Anniversary of a cataclysm

Two years ago this week Russia invaded Ukraine, starting an uprooting of lives across Europe that had not been seen in 80 years.

Six million people fled their Ukrainian homeland, with some reaching the far ends of the Earth. Others flooded into the country to help.

Ewan Cameron from Scotland is one and he is still there. Mr Cameron first went to Ukraine a month after the war broke out to help rescue a friend but the tragic scenes he witnessed made him want to stay and help.

He set up charity ReactAid to bring in vital supplies and to help evacuate injured soldiers, working with trauma medics he met through a mutual desire to help.

Ewan and his colleague Craig Borthwick, a former counter-terrorism officer, take on more daring roles than just supplying hospitals,

Midnight missions to rescue troops from the trenches at the heart of Ukraine's war is a far cry from Ewan’s previous career as a DJ opening sets for Basement Jaxx and Calvin Harris.

But when he found himself caught up in the war while on a mission to rescue a friend he decided to stick with the country.

“Originally I went to Ukraine to help one person but my heart wouldn’t let me go home," he told us.

"There were too many children dying, it was awful. I had strangers trying to hand me their children asking me to save them."

Watch out for our coverage of the anniversary this week, including a podcast that looks at what is now at stake as the battlefield is reshaped and international support for Kyiv up in the air.

Tackling the wars

Finally I went to the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, where the thread between the two wars is the challenge to Western-led stability.

When I spoke with MSC CEO at the wrap up of the meeting, Benedikt Franke, he was sure the beehive of diplomatic activity had produced concrete results. In the issue of Gaza he pointed to the intense meetings of both Israeli delegations -- the president and foreign minister -- with Middle East counterparts and interlocuters.

In my column I wrote it was possible at this 2024 conference to have a fully-blown discussion about how the world is now at war. Accept that and a generational development is taking place. The realisation has dawned.