IT HAS BEEN terrible to witness the scenes of carnage on our TV screens, as the death toll mounts in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is difficult to imagine living through it.

Of course, this is not the first time this has happened over the last 75 years. But it is quite shocking to see how many politicians refuse the calls for peace and an immediate ceasefire. 

The clear implication is that they are content to see more bloodshed; that they are happier with the state of war. The voices calling for peace are being marginalised.

The latest and quite grotesque example of this was at the UN security council where the United States used its veto to block a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and full humanitarian aid. No other country voted against the resolution.

The excuse given by the US ambassador was that the resolution “did not mention Israel’s right to self-defence.” This is ridiculous and the ambassador knows it. 

All rights under international law exist independently of UN resolutions. It is also a bizarre way to approach serious international politics. In effect it demands everyone else must agree with the US viewpoint in order to be able to take any action whatsoever.

The clear implication is that the US does not want peace. This is reinforced by the reports that President Joe Biden has given the go-ahead to Israel to launch its long-anticipated ground war. 

Yet Biden also says Israel must not repeat the US mistake after September 11 2001 and policy must not be driven by revenge.

It is interesting to hear a strong advocate of the Iraq war, like Biden, now say it was a mistake. 

But the current risk of a ground war in Gaza is precisely that it repeats the huge loss of life that took place in Iraq, including the murders of civilians who had no active part in the conflict. Yet Biden seems willing to sanction it all over again.

The death toll has already reached enormous proportions. At the time of writing it was reported there were 3,500 deaths in Gaza, over 1,300 Israelis and yet more killed on the West Bank. 

Therefore it is not enough simply to oppose a ground war. There must be an immediate cessation of hostilities on all sides in order to prevent further rounds of bloodshed.

To put that tally of victims into perspective, there were over 1,400 casualties in Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in 2008, and just under 2,400 killed in the 2014 Gaza war. Of course, there were many more injured too.

This conflict is already far worse in terms of death toll, and very few believe that it will soon come to an end.

In addition to a complete ceasefire, there must also be full access to humanitarian aid. The developments around opening up the Rafah crossing are very welcome but they do not go nearly far enough. The delay in providing in the aid that is needed is unconscionable.

Two million people need food, water and medicines. A few dozen trucks a day cannot possibly provide that. There is also an immediate need for energy supplies, which are of course required in order to pump water and for people to carry out the most basic functions, otherwise Gaza will become even more unsanitary. 

Biden is reported as saying the aid is conditional, and that, if Hamas steals it the aid will be cut off. Of course, no-one should deprive anyone of vital supplies. But consider what this policy would mean in practice. The US would cut off supplies altogether and be responsible for all the deaths caused by lack of medicines, starvation or the absence of clean drinking water.

The siege must be lifted entirely, in line with the demands of the World Health Organisation, the United Nations, the Pope and many more.

It is worth stressing that any siege of this kind is illegal under international law as it amounts to collective punishment. Leading politicians in the Western countries, including the US and in this country seem to have an a la carte approach to international law. They select to uphold only those laws which suit their immediate purposes. 

As a result, they appear to belong to a bygone era. The rest of the world is watching now, it takes note and it has options and is not bound to Western powers.

There is also a deeply worrying trend in terms of suppressing debate. In many Western countries the population is broadly sympathetic to the calls for justice for the Palestinians and believe their own governments do not reflect their views. 

This may be an uncomfortable truth for some, but it remains true nevertheless. A recent poll for YouGov showed an incredible 8-78 percentage split, with the vast majority supporting an immediate ceasefire. Only 1 per cent of Labour voters opposed an immediate ceasefire.

But the response of many governments has been suppression and repression. The French government tried to ban Palestine solidarity demos altogether. 

In Italy, we saw pictures of police brutally attacking demonstrators. In the US, we have had the farcical spectacle over mainly Jewish demonstrators calling for a ceasefire being denounced as insurrectionists and antisemites.

In this country, the BBC has more than once attempted to smear pro-Palestinian demonstrators as being “pro-Hamas.” Police have turned up to the home and harassed the family of a doctor working in Gaza. The Home Secretary threatens to clamp down on pro-Palestinian demonstrators and outlaw the Palestinian national flag. 

This is truly unhinged, as British government policy remains for a two-state solution, meaning the creation of a separate Palestinian state, naturally with its own flag.

But it all fits with the authoritarian stance of this government on all types of civil liberties. It is also an indicator that the supporters of collective punishments and aerial bombings of civilians are not winning the argument and are resorting to police measures instead.

Now that it seems as if the ground war will go ahead, we must not lose sight of the fundamental issues; of justice for the Palestinians, upholding international law and opposing collective punishments. We will also need to protect our own rights to protest in order to raise these questions.

We must also remember — we are not isolated. The US’s was the sole veto of the security council resolution. In December last year, the general assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for an end to the illegal occupation. Fewer than 10 states voted against and the US was the only major power to do so.

The global majority supports the demands for peace and for justice. In the difficult days and even weeks ahead, we should remember that.

Diane Abbott is MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.