Layla Moran: My relatives have nowhere to go in Gaza after bombing

An MP has said members of her extended family have "nowhere to go" after their house was bombed in Gaza City.

Liberal Democrat Layla Moran told the BBC her relatives had sought shelter in a church after Israeli warnings of a ground offensive.

She said they do not have food, water and power after fleeing south to avoid to the Israeli assault.

Israel has blocked supplies of food, water, fuel, and electricity since the deadly Hamas attacks.

Ms Moran, who became the UK's first MP of Palestinian descent when she was elected in 2017, issued an emotional plea to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to speak up for civilians.

"I would like to see Rishi Sunak take a more strident stance when it comes to humanitarian aid, in particular when it comes to letting it in," said Ms Moran.

"I want to see them stress the importance of international humanitarian law, which very clearly puts innocent civilians first."

The UK government "believe it is vital that water supplies are restored" in Gaza and continued to urge Israel to act within international law, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Ms Moran said that while she was not in direct contact with her relatives in Gaza, she was receiving information from members of her immediate family in the West Bank.

The MP said: "They are still there, because what they've said is, first of all, it's three generations. One is very old, and they also said they have nowhere to go."

She also said she was worried for her family in the West Bank, because "there is a concern of course that this violence starts to escalate, starts to spread".

At least 1,400 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attack on 7 October, when gunmen infiltrated communities near the Gaza Strip.

More than 2,700 Palestinians have been killed in numerous air strikes against Gaza by the Israeli military that were launched following the attack.

Hundreds of thousands of people from northern Gaza have moved to southern areas after the Israeli military warned civilians to move there for their own safety.

Israel says northern Gaza is a Hamas stronghold and has warned it will be the target of its assault.

More on Israel Gaza war

• Follow live: Latest updates

• Explained: What's going on in Gaza and Israel, and why now?

• History behind the story: The Israel-Palestinian conflict

• Hamas's attack on Israel: Who are the hostages?

• Inside Gaza: The families who won't evacuate

In an interview with ITV's Good Morning Britain earlier, TV presenter Richard Madeley asked Ms Moran if "there was any word on the street" before Hamas launched its attack on Israel.

Following outrage on social media, a GMB spokesman said Madeley was "sorry that he upset viewers with his question" and "his intention was to understand the mood and atmosphere amongst the civilian population of Gaza immediately before the attacks".

The statement added: "He did not mean to imply that she or her family might have had any prior knowledge of the attacks."

Ms Moran told the BBC she did not think the presenter's question "came from a place of malice".

"And what I'm sad about is that it's distracted from these more important messages about putting our collective humanity first, about peace, about what we do next and about finding a solution for the future."

Ms Moran, the foreign affairs spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said it was important to stress the "clear distinction" between Hamas and civilians in Gaza.

"These are innocent civilians paying a price for something they had nothing to do with," she said.

"I want the government to not just say they want Israel to adhere to international humanitarian law, but also to keep pressing that point and ask them to do the right thing regardless."

Ms Moran mentioned her extended family's situation when Mr Sunak gave a statement to the House of Commons on the Israel-Hamas conflict on Monday.

The MP said the bombing of her relatives' home in Gaza meant she shared "profound emotions of loss and grief" with the Jewish community.

Mr Sunak expressed his sympathies, and paid tribute to "the fact that she looks forward to a more positive future - it's an ambition that I share".

The prime minister said "we must find a way to move forward, to secure a more stable, peaceful settlement".