Gaza Civilians Now Deciding ‘Where Do We Want To Be When We Die’

Civilians trapped in Gaza are now deciding “where do we want to be when we die”, a British MP who has family in the territory has said.

Lib Dem Layla Moran said on Sunday that “nowhere in Gaza is safe”, as Israel conducted its military operation in response to the October 7 Hamas attack.

“The conversion in Gaza now I’m afraid to say has changed. No longer are people saying, where do we go to be safe,” she told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

“The question they are now asking is, where do we want to be when we die?”

Moran’s mother is Palestinian and father is British and some of her extended family have been sheltering in a church in Gaza since a Israeli bomb hit their house.

She said it had been “torturous” not to be able to contact them after phone and internet connections were cut.

“I can’t tell you wha that did to us as a family,” Moran said. “Not knowing if they were dead or alive.”

Moran, the Lib Dem foreign affair spokesperson, said the UK government was essentially “sanctioning” the Israeli action and called for a ceasefire.

On October 7 Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza, killing 1,400 people and taking around 230 hostages.

In response, Israel has launched an intensive bombing campaign in Gaza and a broader ground invasion is expected.