END OF HOSTILITIES IN GAZA

That this House welcomes the end of hostilities in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces; deplores the loss of over 1,300 Palestinian and 13 Israeli lives; recognises the need for the international community to begin an urgent and substantial humanitarian relief and reconstruction effort to alleviate the suffering in Gaza; supports efforts by the UN and charities to provide relief to the people of Gaza; condemns the shelling of the UN Headquarters in Gaza; believes that allegations of war crimes should be properly investigated; recognises the urgent need to find ways to prevent weapons from being smuggled into Gaza; calls on the Israeli and Egyptian governments to ensure that Gaza's borders are open on a continuous and safe basis; calls for international monitoring arrangements to ensure that rocket attacks into Israel cannot be resumed; appeals for energetic diplomatic action from the new U.S. administration, EU countries and countries of the region to secure a return to negotiations for a lasting peace settlement in the Middle East; and recognises the long-term resolution to the conflict as being the two state solution with a secure Israel living alongside a sovereign and viable Palestinian state.