My visit to Israel and Palestine this week has strengthened my commitment to a two state solution

Since Operation Protective Edge began in early July, at least 1,360 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians, and a quarter of Gaza’s population has been forced from their homes. Two Israeli civilians have lost their lives in rocket attacks, several hundred have been injured, and 56 Israeli soldiers have been killed.

Today, the latest appalling loss of life is yet another tragic example of the death and destruction that has resulted from the escalation of this conflict.

Of course this tragic situation must not be reduced simply to a leger of casualties, but the scale of the suffering in Gaza today must be fully and frankly acknowledged, and the horror of this bloodshed is now rightly provoking outrage in the UK and across the world.

I condemn the firing of rockets into Israel by Gaza based militants and recognise Israel’s right to defend itself. But a spiral of violence that reinforces the insecurity of the Israelis and the humiliation of Palestinians leads only to further suffering. That is why Labour is now not only calling for an immediate ceasefire, but have also made clear that we oppose the Israeli incursion into Gaza.

It was with this complex and appalling backdrop of violence that earlier this week I visited Israel and Palestine, and I heard face to face the emotion of both Israelis and Palestinians.

I visited the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah on Sunday and met with Nabil Shaa’th, the Foreign Relations Spokesman of the Palestinian Authority, someone I have met on a number of occasions before.

Nabil is a calm and phlegmatic man, yet this week I have never seen him so angry. Years of frustration at what has happened in the West Bank were apparent as he spoke and expressed his outrage at the events in Gaza, the scale of the assault and, most especially, the death of Palestinian children. “Now is not the time for Palestinians to divide,” he concluded.

When travelling within Israel, I was taken aback by the strength of support, across the political spectrum, for the Israeli action in Gaza. I met the Leader of the Israeli Labour Party, Isaac Herzog, a passionate advocate of a Two State Solution. He challenged me as to what I would do if rockets were being fired at Britain?

He is clear that the Labour Opposition in Israel supports the ground offensive in Gaza and has appeared on “Newsnight” in the UK saying so. Israelis are horrified by the attack tunnels constructed by Hamas with construction materials intended to build schools and hospitals. They are determined to eliminate this immediate threat which is their explanation for continuing this operation in the face of international calls for an immediate ceasefire.

But even in these, some of the darkest times, both Nabil Shaa’th and Isaac Herzog spoke of the need for a political process.

An Israeli soldier I met said to me: “We all know that this will end and then we will talk. Why don’t we end it now and there will be fewer deaths on both sides?”

The tragedy of Gaza is that the more innocent people are killed, the more difficult that political process may become.

So today the international community must both offer support to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and must secure a ceasefire and set out a strategy for building the peace.

Ultimately the underlying cause of this latest crisis is the failure over decades to achieve a two state solution for two peoples. That is why the international community must call for an end to terror, blockade and occupation, and remain resolute in its commitment to a negotiated two state solution.

That is the only way to bring lasting security and justice to the Israeli and Palestinian people.

Ian Lucas MP is the Shadow Minister for the Middle East