IPU Middle East Committee Undertakes Long-Anticipated Mission to Gaza
Members of IPU’s Committee on Middle East Questions were in Gaza on 28 January in the first of a two-part mission to the region. The mission’s aim is to assess the socio-economic and political impact of the conflict and its repercussions on the workings of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
The mission, led by Lord Judd from the UK House of Lords and including IPU Secretary General, Anders B. Johnsson, met UN officials and PLC members to hear their views on security, human rights and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip.
The Committee also sought to assess the status of the PLC, which since 2007 has been largely paralyzed by the divisions among the two main Palestinian political groups and the administrative detention of large numbers of PLC members in Israeli prisons.
A second part of the mission to Israel and the West Bank is being planned for the coming weeks and will focus on the same issues.
The IPU Committee on the Middle East Questions was established in 1987 to follow the peace process in the region and to facilitate dialogue between MPs from all the political factions in the Israeli and Palestinian parliaments and in neighbouring countries.
The mission, led by Lord Judd from the UK House of Lords met UN officials and PLC members to hear their views on security, human rights and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip.
