Ulster Unionist Party Assembly Group

Today, Tuesday 24 June 2025, the Assembly will debate a motion on the war in Gaza. Like so many others, we’ve watched the horrors unfold with a mix of heartbreak and dismay for the innocent people it has devastated. Civilians have paid the highest price on all sides, and it’s clear that the humanitarian crisis demands an immediate response. But it must be responsible, measured, and based on international law.

That’s why we’re putting forward our amendment.

The original motion contains elements we agree with. The call for a permanent ceasefire, the need to get aid into Gaza, and the emphasis on human rights are all important and valid. But there are other parts we can’t support because they offer a one-sided take on an issue that is far more complex than the motion suggests.

Let’s be clear: what happened on 7 October 2023 was a terrorist attack. Iranian regime-backed Hamas terrorists carried out the deadliest attack against Jewish people since the Holocaust, slaughtering 1,200 Israelis, committing acts of sexual violence, burning entire families alive, and taking over 250 civilians hostage. We cannot turn away from what has happened in Gaza either. Whilst we firmly believe in Israel’s right to defend itself, its military campaign has caused immense destruction that may constitute breaches of international humanitarian law, particularly the principles of necessity, distinction, proportionality, and humanity. Thousands of civilians have been killed. Homes, schools, hospitals, and entire neighbourhoods have been flattened. Humanitarian workers and journalists have lost their lives.

Our amendment recognises all of that. It condemns terror, it defends civilians, and it rejects collective punishment and forced displacement. It further highlights the importance of protecting aid access and opposing the obstruction of food, water, and medicine. And crucially, it reaffirms something that must remain at the centre of this conversation, that all civilian life, Israeli or Palestinian, holds equal value.

We’ve also included a reference to Iran’s role in destabilising the region through its support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. If we want to talk about peace, we can’t ignore the actors actively working against it.

This shouldn’t be about arbitrarily taking sides. It’s about taking responsibility and pressing the UK Government to take all necessary diplomatic steps to secure a swift and sustained ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, unrestricted humanitarian access, and to support renewed efforts towards a two-state solution in which both Israel and Palestine can exist in peace and security. Anything less is unacceptable.  

What we’re putting forward is a principled and balanced alternative, one that reflects the pain and complexity of what’s happening on all sides and the legal and moral obligations that should guide how we respond.

We know there are strong and deeply held views on this issue. But our view is simple: the Assembly should not reduce a conflict of this scale and depth to a one-sided narrative. It should speak with care, compassion, and credibility. That’s what our amendment aims to do.