On June 25th 2018, the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) met with Labour Member of Parliament Marsha De Cordova in Parliament to discuss latest developments affecting Palestinian refugees.

As De Cordova MP is an outspoken disability rights campaigner, PRC highlighted the increasing attacks by Israeli authorities, which are leaving Palestinians permanently injured.  According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH) as a result of Israel’s targeting of the Great March of Return protests, fifty-four amputations were carried out; seven of them in the upper extremities, 47 in the lower extremities.  Further, the MOH states that of the total 14,811 injuries, 3,947 are related to live ammunition, 427 with rubber bullets, 1466 are of tear-gas suffocation; 366 of the injuries are critical, 3,746 were declared moderate and 10,699 light. [1] The total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli authorities is 131.

The PRC briefed the MP for Battersea on the dire situation faced by Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, where increasing restrictions by the Lebanese authorities are further limiting the rights of Palestinians. UNRWA’s funding crisis was a matter raised during the meeting and it was reiterated that humanitarian assistance must not be used as an alternative to political solutions. While the US administration’s funding cuts should be condemned and other countries must fill the gap, there has to be a political process that aims to find a resolution to the Palestinian refugees crisis.

[1] http://imemc.org/article/ministry-of-health-131-palestinians-killed-over-14-thousand-injured-in-great-march-of-return/