Sir - Outside the Guildhall last Friday, names of people killed in Gaza during the latest Israeli attack were read out.

The Prime Minister and President Barack Obama have reiterated their support for Israel's right to take “proportionate action to defend itself from the barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza”, yet, to my knowledge, they have not mentioned that Israel is bombing a refugee population.

As the Palestine Solidarity Campaign wrote in an open letter to the BBC, one ought to remember that these events flow from the displacement of the overwhelming majority of the Palestinian people from their homes and communities.

Resistance to occupation is a right under international law; Israel’s collective punishment of Gaza is not.

Successive Israeli governments have been able to attack a captive population because they have not been sanctioned for such behaviour. Moreover, components produced in Britain have been used in their attacks. I have written to Robin Walker MP to urge him to call on the government to impose an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel until it abides by international law.

Neil Laurenson

Worcester