Asked by Baroness Helic To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps
they plan to take to alleviate hunger in Gaza, following the latest
report of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which
found that 30% of Gaza’s population are currently experiencing
catastrophic hunger and that famine is imminent. The Minister of
State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Ahmad of
Wimbledon) (Con) My Lords, we recognise that the desperate...Request free trial
Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to
alleviate hunger in Gaza, following the latest report of the
Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which found that
30% of Gaza’s population are currently experiencing catastrophic
hunger and that famine is imminent.
The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development
Office () (Con)
My Lords, we recognise that the desperate humanitarian situation
in Gaza is deteriorating rapidly, and we are doing everything we
can to get more aid in as quickly as possible, most importantly
by land but also by sea and air. We have trebled our aid
commitment to the Occupied Palestinian Territories this financial
year to just under £100 million. Given that delivering aid
through land routes continues to prove challenging and is being
blocked, we are working closely with Jordan and other partners to
open a Jordan land corridor and are now also working with
partners to operationalise a maritime aid corridor from Cyprus.
We are clear that Israel must take action
to open up more land routes and support the UN to distribute aid
effectively, and my right honourable friend the Prime Minister
and my noble friend the Foreign Secretary are
pressing Israel directly on
this. We have said that there must be an immediate stop in
fighting now, progressing to a sustainable ceasefire. Everyone
needs to act, and that is what the UK Government are doing.
(Con)
I thank my noble friend for his reply. The bar to declare a
famine is high. It means that at least 20% of the population is
affected, with about one out of three children acutely
malnourished due to outright starvation or the interaction of
malnutrition and disease. It means that families are deploying
every coping strategy available and are still starving to death.
The Famine Review Committee said that:
“All evidence points towards a major acceleration of deaths and
malnutrition”.
The UN relief chief has said that humanitarian access to Gaza
“is treated as optional, or indeed wielded as a weapon of
war”.
This famine can still be prevented. The IPC calls for an
immediate ceasefire
“together with a significant and immediate increase in
humanitarian … access to the entire population of Gaza”
to ensure the provision of food, water and medicine and to
restore health, water, sanitation and energy. Ad hoc and small
aid deliveries, however well meaning, are not enough to meet the
scale of this manmade disaster. Will the Government do everything
possible, using every legal route, to press Israel to open up
border crossings and allow a sustained supply of aid relief to
enter the entire Gaza Strip by road? Otherwise, a preventable
famine will take place on our watch, and with full warning.
(Con)
My Lords, I agree with my noble friend that, as we have all said
from various parts of your Lordships’ House, land routes are the
most important and need to be utilised; indeed, all border
crossings need to be fully operationalised. The delivery of aid
through maritime and air, while important, delivers only a
fraction of what is required. We are talking about more than 2
million people who need food, medicine and basic nutrition. I
read the report briefly, and we agree with some of the
recommended actions about restoring humanitarian access to the
entire Gaza Strip. We agree with the calls to stop the
deterioration of food security, health and nutrition, and for the
restoration of health, nutrition and WASH services, and we stand
ready with other partners to do just that. I have been to the
Erez border point near Gaza and have seen the backlog of trucks.
That issue needs to be resolved right now. Both the Foreign
Secretary and I stressed that point to Minister Gantz when he
visited recently; indeed, Minister Gantz heard that point very
clearly from across the pond in the United States as well.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, how is it possible to ask or answer a Question about
the situation in Gaza without mentioning Hamas? It bears
responsibility for this because it started the war, it hired
weapons and terrorists in densely packed civilian areas, and it
steals food and fuel meant for humanitarian relief. The quickest
way to get food into Gaza is for Hamas to lay down its weapons
and stop the fighting. Failing that, Israel has to defeat
the terrorists for there to be any prospect of peace in the
future.
(Con)
My Lords, I believe that I, my right honourable friend and indeed
His Majesty’s loyal Opposition, if I may speak for them, have all
been consistent in our line on this. We need this fighting to
stop, which means that Hamas needs to stop launching the
missiles, which it has done consistently. We agree that the
events of 7 October were shocking and abhorrent—I have been very
clear about that. Of course, we have met consistently with
hostage families. As I left the Foreign Office today, my noble
friend was meeting with hostage families, and I and the Prime
Minister met with some of the hostage families two weeks ago. We
know the pain directly from them, because they tell us quite
directly. But I can also say, from the hostage families I have
met, that they are also clear—I am sure the noble Lord agrees
with me—that we need this fighting to stop now.
(CB)
My Lords, can the Minister perhaps tell the House how the
consideration of the problems that arose over UNRWA are coming
along, given that the new financial year starts about two weeks
from now? Will we, like a number of other western countries,
thereafter be able to resume the distribution of aid through
UNRWA, which the Minister’s noble friend the Foreign Secretary
said had an unparalleled capacity for distribution?
(Con)
I totally agree with my noble friend. I assure the noble Lord
that our decision to pause future funding to UNRWA has had no
impact on the UK’s overall contribution to the humanitarian
response. On the specifics of what the noble Lord raises, we want
to see three things in order to consider lifting the funding
pause: the interim findings of the UN Office of Internal
Oversight Services, the interim report findings of the
independent investigation into UNRWA—led by the former Foreign
Minister of France, Catherine Colonna—which is due this week, and
a time-bound action for UNRWA to set out detailed management
reforms. I stand by what my noble friend the Foreign Secretary
said. UNRWA has provided valuable support to Gaza through the
distribution of food, medicines and other services. We were
shocked and horrified by the reports made against UNRWA. The
Secretary-General acted very swiftly in removing those against
whom those reports were made.
(Lab)
My Lords, last Tuesday the Foreign Secretary said that, as the
occupying power, Israel has a
responsibility to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. He said we
would examine how that was happening and its compliance with
international law. We have heard constantly that Israel has the
commitment and capability. We need to assess whether it is
complying. Last week I asked the Foreign Secretary whether we
were going to ensure that the Israelis comply with the
provisional measures of the ICJ. Why are we not doing so now?
(Con)
My Lords, I assure the noble Lord that, in all our interactions
with the Israeli Government, we make the point, as we have said
in your Lordships’ House, about the importance of complying with
the ICJ decision on provisional measures. This is central to the
issue of humanitarian aid. Security Council Resolution 2720,
which the UK championed, also focused on ensuring the full and
sustainable access of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is needed
now.
(LD)
My Lords, the European Union, along with hundreds of countries
around the world, has now officially accepted that Israel is starving
Gaza. At the weekend the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell,
said:
“In Gaza we are no longer on the brink of famine, we are in a
state of famine, affecting thousands of people … This is
unacceptable. Starvation is used as a weapon of
war. Israel is provoking
famine”.
As we heard last week, and as the noble Lord, Lord Collins, has
reinforced, Article 50 of the Geneva convention places a
requirement on the occupying power not to hinder the application
of food, medical care and protection for children, pregnant women
and other vulnerable people. Do His Majesty’s Government also
consider that these deliberate blockages are potentially being
used as weapons of war under the Geneva convention? What legal
advice have the UK Government had in their support of the Israeli
Government, who are actively blocking the inward supply of vital
life-saving aid and creating this famine?
(Con)
My Lords, on the projections of famine, the report says that one
in five households faces an extreme food shortage and one in
three children is acutely malnourished. Famine is projected to
occur in the northern part of Gaza
“anytime between mid-March and May 2024”.
The issue of food insecurity is very clear. Previous assessments
of compliance with IHL have been documented in your Lordships’
House. We regularly review advice about Israel’s capability and
commitment to IHL and will act in accordance with that
advice.
(Con)
My Lords, I visited Kerem Shalom, as disclosed in my register of
interests. All the operatives we met have either been killed or
abducted and the equipment destroyed. However, Israel—which has
never denied Gaza humanitarian aid—now has the capacity to pass
44 trucks per hour into Gaza. On 10 March, 150 lorries passed
through, supplying 3,750 tonnes of food, equivalent to four
pounds per person. If we are to seek peace, reconciliation and a
ceasefire, does the Minister not agree with me that it is very
important not to have disinformation, particularly
about Israel It has always
sought to ensure that humanitarian aid is supplied wherever it
can. The problem has been the UNRWA distribution thereof.
(Con)
My Lords, we have been very clear about the importance of aid
entering Gaza unimpeded. There have been claims and
counterclaims. The United Kingdom has been very clear
that Israel is not letting
enough trucks through the crossing. The number that my noble
friend quotes is factual, but it is also true that 500 trucks
were entering before the war. Some statements have been made that
commercial items were included within that. Yes, they were, but
there was also food grown in Gaza, which is no longer possible.
That is why there is an acute need. The 500 that is consistently
stated is not a high threshold but the minimum threshold, and it
is needed now.
(Lab)
My Lords, is the Minister aware how much of the aid is getting
through but not being distributed because it is being siphoned
off by Hamas? Does he have any figures at that end of the
scale?
(Con)
My Lords, all the aid that gets through is checked first and
foremost by the Israelis themselves at the various checkpoints
including, as my noble friend said, at Kerem Shalom, which has a
very enhanced capacity that needs to be fully utilised. On the
issue of aid within Gaza, undoubtedly, with the current chaos in
Gaza there is no infrastructure. The roads are no longer fully
operational. There are some military roads, which have allowed
certain countries —including recently, as reported, Morocco—to
deliver aid to the north of Gaza. We need consistent support from
the Israeli authorities on the ground to ensure aid distribution.
UNRWA provided a vital function. I have reiterated our shock,
horror and abhorrence at the reports about UNRWA, and UNRWA is
taking action. We have not yet resumed funding, but we are
looking at that very carefully.
The difference between Hamas, a terrorist organisation,
and Israel a Government,
is that under IHL Israel has obligations
that it needs to fulfil as a Government with responsibility to
the Geneva conventions. Many in Israel including
many NGOs, are very reflective of that. I have met with many
hostage families who are shocked by what they see in Gaza,
notwithstanding the horror that they are continuing to face
themselves. That is why we are clear: stop this fighting now,
release the hostages, let humanitarian aid enter Gaza unimpeded.
Then we can talk about the medium to long term on peace and
security, which is an equal right of Israelis and
Palestinians.
(CB)
I do not meet many people in the course of my life who are not
influenced by what is happening in Gaza. I can honestly say that
most of the people I meet and talk to, people from all walks of
life, are appalled at what Israel is doing. Is
somebody going to tell Israel about the damage
it is doing not only to its own people but to people throughout
the world? Jewish people throughout the world are having a hell
of a time because of what is happening there. This is the worst
form of foreign policy ever; it is terrible. The amount of
anti-Semitism you see around the world is because Israel is thinking not
about the next five or 10 years but only immediately.
(Con)
My Lords, I assure the noble Lord that we are very clear
to Israel as a friend and
partner—for example, with Mr Gantz—about Israel’s
responsibilities in the appalling humanitarian situation in Gaza
and the importance of acting with the rights of all its citizens.
Let us not forget that 21% or 22% of its population is Arab,
Christian and Muslim. Israel is a democratic
state and has important security concerns that need to be
directly supported, but equally we are very clear that the only
way of securing peace, stability and security in the region is to
ensure an immediate stop in the fighting now, to get the hostages
released and to let in humanitarian aid. A lot of work is being
done, including directly by my noble friend the Foreign Secretary
and me on the diplomatic front, to ensure that we can address
this shocking chapter in the history of Israel and across the
Palestinian territories quite directly and bring peace, stability
and security through the two-state solution. I assure the noble
Lord that we are working diplomatically and extensively on that
point.
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