Extracts from Defence
Questions (Commons)
(Colchester) (Con): The Israeli
Government have said that they want to “flood” Gaza with aid.
Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that we will work with
our partners globally to get more aid into the hands of civilians
in Gaza, and will assist the Israelis to deliver on that pledge
as soon as possible?
The Secretary of State for Defence (): I inform my hon. Friend that
we have already delivered 74 tonnes of humanitarian aid via the
RAF, and 87 tonnes through the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. In
addition, we are pursuing land, air and maritime routes.
With half of Gaza already starving and the rest teetering on the
edge of famine, and the UN Security Council voting for an
immediate ceasefire in Gaza, access to humanitarian aid is
crucial. This month, the Foreign Secretary stated that the UK
would support the building of a temporary pier in Gaza to allow
hundreds of extra daily truckloads of aid into the strip. Will
the Secretary of State outline what steps he is taking, along
with the Foreign Secretary, to ensure that the pier is
constructed as quickly as possible?
The hon. Lady will be pleased to hear that I have sent teams both
to Tampa to work with US Central Command and to the region to
help with planning and constructing that pier. In addition, right
at the beginning of the conflict, I ensured that we did
hydrographic research, to aid in exactly this kind of situation,
when the conditions were right to get a pier built. This is not a
trivial endeavour, but we are working to deliver the pier as
quickly as possible; there is the potential to get 2.5 million
meals a day to Gaza.
(Kingston upon Hull West and
Hessle) (Lab)
The UK Government’s ability to deliver humanitarian aid depends
on the UK’s relationship with its middle eastern partners. What
impact does the Secretary of State think that recent events and
UK Government foreign policy decisions have had on that crucial
relationship with those middle eastern partners?
The hon. Lady will be pleased to hear that the Foreign Secretary,
the Prime Minister and I have been very proactive in speaking to
and making multiple visits to the region. I have visited the
majority of countries in the middle east and Gulf region to
discuss exactly the points that she has raised. There is now a
large-scale programme of using a pier to get food in, in addition
to the many other efforts made. As my hon. Friend the Member for
Colchester () pointed out, the issue is not
just getting the aid there, but then distributing it; that is a
great concern.
Mr Speaker
I call the Scottish National party spokesperson.
(Angus) (SNP)
When will the Government make a further public determination on
Israel’s commitment to international humanitarian law, given the
man-made famine unfolding in northern Gaza, which is compounded
by Israeli moves to obstruct access to aid? If the UK finds, as
the UN Secretary-General, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
International did, that the Israeli Government and
the Israel Defence Forces
have violated international law, what steps will the UK
Government take to prohibit further arms sales to Israel pending a
resolution of the situation? Given that the Security Council has
just called for a ceasefire, what steps will the Government take
through the defence sector to accelerate all available aid for
civilians in Gaza?
It is a pity to ask all those questions without referencing the
100-plus hostages who are still being held by Hamas, who brutally
slaughtered the population deliberately rather than as a
by-product of war. The hon. Gentleman asks a number of questions.
I can tell him that on arms exports to Israel
an issue for which I am responsible, it is, to put it in
proportion—I think, from the top of my head—just £48 million for
the past year. The numbers are actually very small indeed. He
will know that his latter question is one for the Foreign,
Commonwealth and Development Office.
(East Lothian) (Alba)
T5. The Government have previously refused to confirm or deny
whether Israeli F-35s have been using RAF airbases or, indeed,
other military co-operation between the UK and Israel Given the
decision of the International Court of Justice, and now the
decision of the UN Security Council to call for an immediate
ceasefire, what are the operational or policy reasons that deny
UK citizens the right to know whether their Government have been
complicit in Israeli genocide in Gaza?(902190)
The Minister for Armed Forces ()
We do not comment on operational matters of that sort.
(Buckingham) (Con)
T4. Qatar hosts Hamas’s most senior leaders in Doha, and should
have been applying far more pressure on the terror group to
release the Israeli hostages and to surrender. Does my right hon.
Friend agree that Qatar’s malign activities bolster our
adversaries and therefore weaken our own defence?(902189)
I am not entirely sure that I do agree. I will leave the Foreign
Office to talk about the diplomatic angles that it is pursuing,
but in my experience, Qatar has been an incredibly helpful
partner across a whole load of things over the past few years. We
enjoy the opportunity to strengthen that partnership, both
through the sale of UK-built defence capabilities and through
increasingly operating together in areas of mutual concern. It is
a relationship on which the UK can build further, and has great
potential.
(Sedgefield) (Con)
Like many colleagues across the House, I attended the all-party
parliamentary group for UK-Israel and Friends of Israel event. We were
joined by two released hostages and a delegation consisting of
young siblings, sons, daughters, grandchildren and cousins of
those being held hostage in Gaza. It is now five months since the
hostages were taken, so will the Secretary of State ensure that
those victims remain right at the front of his mind in all
decisions that are taken on the middle east?
My hon. Friend can absolutely have that assurance. It is shocking
to see what is happening in the region, but it is too often
forgotten—including in this House today by some Opposition
Members—that this all began with the taking of those hostages. We
will never forget.
Petition
UNRWA Funding
(Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
(SNP)
I rise to present a petition on behalf of the constituents of
Linlithgow and East Falkirk in relation to United Nations Relief
and Works Agency funding. My constituents have been deeply
troubled by the scenes emerging from Gaza, where unprecedented
levels of human suffering have been witnessed. Tens of thousands
of innocent women, children and civilians have already been
killed, and a quarter of Gazans are at risk of death from
starvation and destitution. Humanitarian aid is now beyond
critical. I think it worth pointing out that the petition was
prepared prior to Israel’s refusal to allow UNRWA aid into the
north—effectively a death sentence for many.
The petition states:
“The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons
urges the UK Government to help protect the rights and lives of
those affected by the War in Gaza by reallocating funds to the
UNRWA to ensure the immediate deliverance of humanitarian
assistance to address the adverse threat to life of
Palestinians.
And the petitioners remain, etc.”
Following is the full text of the petition:
[The petition of residents of the constituency of Linlithgow and
East Falkirk,
Declares that the crisis in Gaza has already resulted in
thousands of deaths and shows no sign of a resolution; further
declares that UNRWA has warned that not enough aid is entering
the besieged Gaza strip, and that a quarter of the Gazan
population has been determined as an IPC Stage 5 crisis, which
means that they are under immediate threat of death from
starvation and destitution; notes that whilst the allegations
against the 12 employees of the UNRWA are serious and must be
investigated thoroughly, the UNRWA operates in the West Bank,
Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan as well as Gaza, and the UK government
punishing civilians in these places by pausing funding will have
significant humanitarian repercussions.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges
the UK Government to help protect the rights and lives of those
affected by the War in Gaza by reallocating funds to the UNRWA to
ensure the immediate deliverance of humanitarian assistance to
address the adverse threat to life of Palestinians.
And the petitioners remain, etc.]
