Thursday, 6 February 2025

 Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (09:40): I move, by leave:

That this house:

(1)   notes that:

(a) according to the ‘Humanitarian Situation Update #261 – Gaza Strip’, published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on 5 February 2025, since the ceasefire in Gaza on 27 January:

(i) it is estimated that over 560,000 people have returned to northern Gaza;

(ii) the World Food Programme, WFP, delivered more than 10 million metric tonnes of food to Gaza, reaching about 1 million people through household-level distribution of food parcels;

(iii) prices for both food and non-food commodities have started to decline; prices for many items remain up to 1200 per cent higher than precrisis levels;

(iv) across the strip, water sanitation and hygiene agencies are scaling up water-trucking activities to increase water accessibility and meet staggering levels of need, given the high level of damage to groundwater wells, water treatment units, trucking operations and sewage pumping facilities.

(2)   further notes that United Nations Mine Action Service warns of higher exposure to the threat posed by explosive ordinance, but they are currently not able to conduct disposal operations; if an unexploded bomb or landmine is found, it is marked with warning messages; and

(3)   supports calls for the current ceasefire to become permanent.

Leave refused.