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Motion · S6M-17540 · 13 May 2025

Increasing Risk of Famine in Palestine

Lodged by Pauline McNeill (Scottish Labour) Members' Business Motion 42 supporters

The motion

That the Parliament is deeply concerned by World Health Organization (WHO) warnings of the permanent impact of hunger on a generation of Gazans; understands from WHO reports that the risk of famine in Gaza is increasing daily, due to the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid, including food, in the ongoing blockade by Israel; further understands that the blockade has kept the crossing closed for 70 days, and that this is impacting on the entire 2.1 million population, who are facing prolonged food shortages; understands from WHO reports that almost half a million people are in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death; notes the latest food security analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partnership, of which WHO is a member, and the reported belief that this is one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time; further notes the comments from WHO director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, that “we do not need to wait for a declaration of famine in Gaza to know that people are already starving, sick and dying, while food and medicines are minutes away across the border”; notes the comments by the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, reported by the BBC on 13 May 2025, in which he reportedly agreed with the view that Israel was denying food and aid to civilians as a weapon of war; is concerned at reports of a shortage of clean drinking water and a shortage of fuel, which, it believes, is impacting on the only desalination plant; notes the view, from WHO reports, that the long-term impact and damage from malnutrition can last a lifetime in the form of stunted growth, impaired cognitive development and poor health, that, without enough nutritious food, clean water and access to healthcare, an entire generation will be permanently affected, and that, if the situation persists, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished over the next 11 months; further notes the calls for Israel to lift the blockade immediately and allow the free flow of food, medicines and other essential items, including fuel, to prevent famine and save the lives of a generation, and notes the calls, including from communities in the Glasgow region, for the international community to do more than just condemn this blockade, and to put pressure on Israel to act, and not to be complicit in what it considers to be permanent, long-term damage to the Palestinian population in Gaza.

Supporters (42)

Source: the Scottish Parliament motions and amendments record.