Opened the debate
Faruqi argued that the government's response to Israel's actions in Gaza was inadequate and lacked courage. Faruqi stated that Israel had deliberately targeted hospitals, rescue workers, and journalists, resulting in the deaths of 189 Palestinian media personnel and 53,000 Palestinians, with 83 per cent being civilians. Faruqi contended that the blockade on food, water, and medicine constituted Israeli-made starvation and ethnic cleansing. Faruqi criticised the government for imposing over 1,400 sanctions on Russia while applying only a handful to Israel, describing this as a double standard. Faruqi asserted that the Labor Party had focused more on attacking critics than holding Israel accountable, and called for immediate sanctions to stop what Faruqi described as genocide.