ON FRIDAY, my Gaza (Independent Public Inquiry) Bill is returning to Parliament, having passed its first reading last month.

I first called for an inquiry in March. Since then, our demand for an inquiry has grown, and has the support of more than 50 MPs and countless more human rights organisations, including Oxfam GB, Action Aid, and many more.

In that time, we have also helped set up The Hague Group, a coalition of nine nations that seeks to co-ordinate legal, diplomatic and economic measures against Israel’s violations of international law. This is part of the mounting, global pressure from millions of people all over the world demanding truth and accountability.

In the aftermath of the Iraq war, several attempts were made to establish an inquiry surrounding the conduct of British military operations. The government of the day spent many years resisting these attempts. However, they could not prevent the inevitable — and in 2016 we had the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry. 

The report found serious failings within the British government, who ignored the warnings of millions of ordinary people over its disastrous decision to go to war. I was the leader of the Labour Party when the report was published — and I apologised on behalf of the party for its disastrous decision to go to war in Iraq.

Today, history is repeating itself. The death toll in Gaza has exceeded 61,000. At least 110,000 — or one in 20 — people have been injured. Two Israeli officials are now wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Israel has not been committing these crimes by itself. It has relied on military, economic and political support from governments across the world.

We may have had a change in government since October 2023, but one thing has remained constant: the steady supply of arms to Israel. Between October and December 2024 alone, Labour approved more arms exports licences to Israel than the Conservatives approved between the whole of 2020 and 2023.

This in spite of the government’s announcement of a partial suspension in September 2024. Many of us have continued to express our disgust over the continued supply of components to the F-35 programme. I remain astounded that the government openly admits it is making an “exception” to its partial suspension — an “exception” to its legal obligations to prevent genocide.

We have also repeatedly asked for the truth regarding the role of British military bases in Cyprus, concerning the transfer of arms and the supply of military intelligence.

When the Prime Minister visited RAF Akrotiri in December 2024, he was filmed telling troops: “The whole world and everyone back at home is relying on you.” He added: “Quite a bit of what goes on here can’t necessarily be talked about all of the time. We can’t necessarily tell the world what you’re doing.” What does the government have to hide?

Over the past 18 months, our questions have been met with evasion, obstruction and silence, leaving the public in the dark over the ways in which the responsibilities of government have been discharged. Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of democracy. The British public deserves to know the full scale of Britain’s complicity in crimes against humanity.

That is why we are urging the government to establish a full, public, independent inquiry into Britain’s role in Israel’s military assault in Gaza. This inquiry would seek to establish the truth over Britain’s military, economic or political co-operation with Israel since October 2023. Any meaningful inquiry would require the full co-operation from government ministers — Conservative and Labour — who have been involved in decision-making processes.

This inquiry must find out: what arms have been supplied to Israel? Which of these arms have been used to kill Palestinians? What legal advice has the government received? Is RAF Akrotiri being used as a route for weapons to be deployed in Gaza? What video footage does the government have of the war zone? What intelligence has been passed to Israel?

Over the past 18 months, human beings have endured a level of horror and inhumanity that should haunt us forever. Entire families wiped out. Limbs strewn across the street. Mothers screaming for their children torn to pieces. Doctors performing amputations without anaesthesia.

Home by home, hospital by hospital, generation by generation. We have not been witnessing a war. We have been witnessing a genocide, livestreamed before the entire world.

On Friday, the government has a choice: will it support this inquiry, or will it block our efforts to establish the truth? Make no mistake, Parliament is not the only avenue we have — and if the government objects to our inquiry, we will pursue other means of uncovering the full scale of British complicity in genocide.

Just like Iraq, the government is doing everything it can to protect itself from scrutiny. Just like Iraq, it will not succeed in its attempts to conceal the truth. This issue is not going away — and we are not going anywhere. We will carry on for as long as it takes to bring about justice for the Palestinian people.

Jeremy Corbyn is the MP for Islington North.