Child victims of Gaza onslaught remembered in Westminster vigil

The names of thousands of innocent children, killed in Gaza, have been read out by dozens of artists and supporters in a vigil outside the Palace of Westminster.

Actors including Steve Coogan and Juliet Stevenson stood in the shadow of the Elizabeth Tower to help read out the names of more than 16,000 children as part of the Choose Love-organised campaign to “honour” those killed in the last 19 months.

Later, they described what is happening as a genocide and said that people should stand up and protest if they do not agree with what the UK Government is doing to try and stop it.

Coogan said he was took part to “highlight the plight of starving children in Gaza who are having their aid blocked”.

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"Not just a statistic"

He said: “I am here to bring attention to that, and not only that, but the lives of all the children who have been lost in this conflict, in this bombing which has been largely indiscriminate bombing.

“It is to shine light on the fact that these were real people, real children and they should be remembered.

“We are reading out the names to remember them as human beings and not just a statistic.

“I don’t know these children of course, but when you read the name, you realise they were someone who had a life, albeit a short one and had nothing to do with the conflict.

“They were the innocent victims of the conflict, and that the vast majority of the families had nothing to do with this conflict, even where their families did, it doesn’t justify that kind of response.”

He described what is happening as “not only immoral, it’s illegal under international law, and lots of mainstream news outlets would rather this went away and would rather ignore it”.

Up to 16,000 names, of children under 18 who are confirmed dead were read and up to 20,000 children are also reported as missing, the organisers said.

The readers stood in front of a banner which read: “Gaza: Actions Not Words”.

It was made up of the names of 1,700 babies, who are one year old or younger, who who have been confirmed as dead.

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"Appalling"

Each speaker, including actors Toby Jones, Emily Watson, Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa and Andrea Riseborough plus presenters Dawn O’Porter and Nadia Sawalha, read out approximately 300 names.

Coogan also said it is “appalling” the press have not been allowed into the war zone for 18 months to report on what is happening, saying “if they had nothing to hide, they would let the press in.

On Thursday Stevenson said: “It is every child who name we know but, of course, there are so many children whose names we don’t know who are buried under the rubble.

“Every child whose name is known is being read because they are not numbers.

“Each child that has been killed, had a name, a family, had passions, had loves and fears as do all our children.

“There is no difference and they now have had their lives taken away.

“It is a genocide and I have just been horrified by what has been going on.”

The organisers are calling for a halt to arms sales and export licences to Israel, full humanitarian access to Gaza and a commitment to an immediate and lasting ceasefire “to end the starvation and slaughter of children”.

Khalid Abdalla, who played Dodi Fayed in The Crown, described the vigil as “a very moving tribute to the number of children who have been killed, there’s an ongoing genocide”.

He added: “It’s heartbreaking that each of these children only gets to have their names for them as you read the names you have just about touched on the world of who they might have been.

“I was reading for half an hour almost, and all the children’s names that I read out were five years old.

“I was hoping I would get to a change in number.

“There was no change in number.

“The point is thousands upon thousands of children have died and we don’t even know the final number because it is ongoing.”

Open letter

The vigil comes after more than 300 actors, musicians, activists and others used an open letter to call on the Prime Minister to “take immediate action to end the UK’s complicity in the horrors of Gaza”.

As well as suspending UK arms sales to Israel, the group urged Sir Keir to “use all available means” to ensure humanitarian aid gets into the territory and “make a commitment to the children of Gaza” that he would broker an “immediate and permanent ceasefire”.

Signatories included Gary Lineker, who left his role presenting Match Of The Day earlier this month following a controversy over one of his social media posts about the conflict in Gaza, actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Brian Cox, along with Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlin, singers Paloma Faith and Annie Lennox, plus Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos.

A Government spokesman previously said: “We strongly oppose the expansion of military operations in Gaza and call on the Israeli Government to cease its offensive and immediately allow for unfettered access to humanitarian aid.

“The denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Gaza is unacceptable and risks breaching International Humanitarian Law.

“Last year, we suspended export licences to Israel for items used in military operations in Gaza and continue to refuse licences for military goods that could be used by Israel in the current conflict.

“We urge all parties to urgently agree a ceasefire agreement and work towards a permanent and sustainable peace.”