A cross party group of UK MPs have issued a call for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East. 60 MPs have signed the statement so far which was published today in the Guardian newspaper. It is expected that more will add their names over the next few days.

The statement calls for an immediate cessation to violence by all sides, for the release of unlawfully held prisoners by Israel, Hizbollah and Palestinian militias, and for the realisation of the two state solution in Israel and Palestine. 

STATEMENT BY UK PARLIAMENTARIANS

As Members of the United Kingdom Parliament we condemn both the Hizbollah rocket attacks which had killed 17 civilians in Israel by 25 July, and the disproportionate Israeli military strikes which in the last few weeks have killed over 370 civilians and displaced over 500,000 in Lebanon, and killed over 100 in Gaza.

Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority all have the right to defend their lawful territories and to protect their peoples from attack.

Rocket attacks by militias on Israeli towns do not protect the people of Palestine or Lebanon. Likewise the people of Israel are not protected by military might which targets homes, bridges and roads in Lebanon, cuts electricity and water supplies to the majority of homes in Gaza, including refugee camps, and which has done far more damage to Lebanon’s democratically elected government than it has to Hizbollah. Such actions are unacceptable, immoral and illegal.

As a High Contracting Party to the 4th Geneva Convention, the UK Government has a particular responsibility to uphold and ensure universal respect for international humanitarian law. We also call on the entire international community to press for an immediate ceasefire by all parties; to help secure the release of prisoners held unlawfully whether by Israel, Hizbollah or by Palestinian militias; and to take even handed steps to secure the implementation all UN Security Council Resolutions concerning the Middle East, including the realisation of a viable Palestinian state alongside an Israel secure in its lawful borders.

Richard Burden MP

Andy Love MP

Phyllis Starkey MP

Crispin Blunt MP

Colin Breed MP

Rob Marris MP

Nick Harvey MP

John Austin MP

Brian Iddon MP

Sadiq Khan MP

Sandra Osborne MP

David Drew MP

Greg Pope MP

Lynne Jones MP

John Hemming MP

Ann McKechin MP

Joan Ruddock MP

Stephen Williams MP

Harry Cohen MP

Roger Berry MP

Ian Gibson MP

David Lepper MP

Tom Levitt MP

Helen Goodman MP

Janet Dean MP

Alan Whitehead MP

Bob Russell MP

Diane Abbott MP

Brian Jenkins MP

Peter Bottomley MP

John Leech MP

Martin Caton MP

Paul Truswell MP

Derek Wyatt MP

John Grogan MP

Jim Dowd MP

Jeremy Corbyn MP

Phil Willis MP

Mike Hancock MP
Eric Illsley MP

Dr Hywel Francis MP

Clive Betts MP

Martin Salter MP

Jeff Ennis MP

Richard Younger-Ross MP

Dave Anderson MP

Tom Brake MP

Kerry McCarthy MP

Shahid Malik MP

Jim Dobbin MP

Nicholas Soames MP

Emily Thornberry MP

Kelvin Hopkins MP

Hywel Williams MP

Bob Laxton MP

Karen Buck MP

Jon Trickett MP

Neil Gerrard MP

Dari Taylor MP

Elfin Llwyd MP

Anne Snelgrove MP

Dai Havard MP

Roger Gale MP

Michael Connarty MP

Lorely Burt MP

Frank Cook MP

Andy Reed MP

Ken Purchase MP

Roberta Blackman-Woods MP

Ian Stewart MP

Angus Robertson MP

Stewart Hosie MP

Paul Holmes MP

Lyn Brown MP

Mike Weir MP

Jill Evans MEP

Lord Hylton

David Hamilton MP

Gordon Prentice MP

Paul Farrelly MP

Nigel Griffiths MP

Nia Griffith MP

Janet Anderson MP

Lord Redesdale

Baroness Uddin

David Chaytor MP

Lord Ahmed

Peter Kilfoyle MP

Sally Keeble MP (88 - as of 14/08/06)