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Delyth Jewell, who is the deputy leader of Plaid Cymru, is one of four regional Senedd Members serving the South Wales East region.

Happy (belated) Easter to you all – I hope that you had a good celebration. If you, like me, gave up chocolate for Lent, I trust that your eggs tasted all the sweeter as a result! And what’s more, I truly hope that in the past few days, the message of new life that’s associated with this holiday has brought you solace, hope, and a sense of peace.

Peace, sadly, is a state that’s all too lacking in so many parts of our world. The wars that rage on in Ukraine, in Sudan, and the terrors being inflicted on women in Afghanistan are a sobering reminder of how much we take for granted in our small corner of the world. 

But perhaps more than any other conflict, the devastation that’s being wrought in Gaza is bringing shame on the international community for failing to act. 

Before I came to my role in the Senedd, I worked for Action Aid, which is an international development charity focused on empowering women and girls in the global south. We had an office in Palestine, and I had colleagues living in Gaza. Some of my former colleagues have been trapped in that narrow territory since the monstrous attacks on October 7, alongside thousands of other innocent civilians. 

Gaza has become the most dangerous place on the planet to be a child, and thousands upon thousands of Gazans have been killed, their bodies buried under the rubble of the buildings they once called home. 

Many Israeli hostages still remain in captivity, after having been brutally stolen from their homes and villages by Hamas. For their sake, as well as for the millions of Gazans who are imprisoned in a war zone, there must surely be an urgent ceasefire – and the UK must be made to stop selling the weapons that are used to wage this war.

There are increasingly loud voices being heard (finally) in the UK, throughout Europe and the rest of the world, demanding such a ceasefire. Our Senedd voted for this many months ago now, and Plaid Cymru MPs have joined the voices of those calling for Westminster to be recalled early from its Easter recess to discuss the most recent, shocking developments in this war. 

Diplomacy should not be so maddeningly slow: in recent days I’m sure that you, like me, have been horrified to hear that aid workers have been killed in Gaza while trying to distribute food to people who are starving. Those aid workers, like my former colleagues, should never be a target.  

I know that this period is incredibly painful for both our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters, living in our communities. I have been horrified to hear about a rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks on our streets. There is no place for such hatred in our communities. I hope that this season of new life will bring an end to these ugly attacks.  

But most of all, I hope (and I pray) for that fragile seed of peace to bloom. The word for peace is the same in Hebrew and in Arabic: Shalom. Salam.  

That is what is needed – but it is a peace which cannot come through killings.