The following Answer to an Urgent Question was given in the House of Commons on Wednesday 29 October.
“The House will be aware of events over the past 24 hours in Rafah, including reports that Israeli strikes took place last night. Estimates of the death toll vary, but the suggestion is that up to 100 people in Gaza have been killed. We understand that these strikes followed an attack yesterday afternoon, where responsibility remains unclear.
As the Prime Minister said earlier, we echo the Americans in calling for urgent de-escalation and for all parties to keep the commitments they have made in the ceasefire agreement. We are clear that Hamas must release the bodies of all remaining Israeli hostages. The immediate priority is to ensure the unrestricted flow of aid into Gaza. The Israeli Government must urgently lift restrictions on aid entering, and international non-governmental organisations must be permitted to operate in Gaza to provide the scale of support that is needed. Civilians cannot wait.
This Government are working closely with our partners to do everything we can to support the transition from the ceasefire to phase 2 of the peace plan. This includes the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of a ceasefire monitoring mission, an international security force and the implementation of transitional governance arrangements in Gaza. We are clear that there can be no role for Hamas in the future governance of the strip. In recent days, the Foreign Secretary has spoken to the UN Under-Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-ordination, Tom Fletcher, the Egyptian Foreign Minister and the Israeli Foreign Minister about the importance of opening more crossings and removing restrictions on aid. As I told the House yesterday, the Foreign Secretary and I will be heading to the region shortly.
On 13 to 15 October, I co-hosted with the Egyptian Government and the Palestinian Authority the first conference to look at how we can leverage sustainable support for Gaza’s reconstruction. Britain will continue to play our full part in support of the ceasefire and the wider peace initiative. There is not a moment to lose to get relief at scale to those in need and to make progress on the pathway to a lasting peace”.
My Lords, when even Qatar, which plays host to the Hamas leadership, has acknowledged breaches of the ceasefire by Hamas, we know that the situation is getting serious. Taken alongside horrific videos of summary executions of fellow Palestinians, armed fighters patrolling the streets, the killing of several Israeli soldiers and the looting of aid convoys, it is clear that Hamas is determined to continue in a governance role in Gaza, despite the promises it made in the peace agreement. Can the Minister say what discussions the Government have had with Arab and international partners on any multinational peacekeeping force that could restore law and order to Gaza? If that does not happen, I fear that the current uneasy truce will not last very long.
The noble Lord, Lord Callanan, is right that this is an uneasy truce, but it is a truce all the same. My feeling is that we have to stick with it for as long as we possibly can, notwithstanding the deeply troubling events that he has seen. We all shared the joy and relief at the hostages’ release. We all wish this peace process well and will do everything we possibly can to see it sustained.
My Lords, with continuing Hamas terrorist violence and the regrettable civilian deaths of Palestinians, it seems that phase 2 of the agreement might now be some way off. Given the terrible devastation in Gaza—which, as I have said in the Chamber before, is 20 times that of the scale of the Blitz in the Second World War, and on an area a quarter the size of London—it beggars belief that the hoped-for 600 trucks a day, as set out in the agreement, are not getting through. The latest reports say that less than 100 are getting through, and $50 million of aid is still waiting to get into Gaza. What practical steps are we in the western community taking? We were all happy to be with President Trump at the signing of the agreement, but it now seems that little action is being taken to get the desperately needed aid to civilians.
This is a real problem, and we are working to try to persuade the Israelis to allow the opening of as many crossings as possible. We want to see Allenby Bridge and the Rafah crossing reopened. As the noble Lord said, limited aid is getting in through Kerem Shalom, which is causing congestion. There is no shortage of money or aid for Gaza, but there is a real problem with access, registration and dual-use regulations—all things we have been grappling with for too long. There has been some improvement, which we welcome, but we very much want to see the right volumes and type of aid getting to where it is so badly needed.
My Lords, amid all the other things that have been going on in Israel and Palestine in the past few weeks, would my noble friend the Minister like to comment on the vote in the Israeli Parliament—which passed by 71 to 13—to annex the West Bank and incorporate it into the State of Israel? Can she impress on colleagues in Israel that that will make the possibility of a Palestinian state just the opposite—an impossibility? Does she agree that, while it may be possible, although I doubt it, to eliminate Hamas, no one will eliminate the totally legitimate worldwide support for an independent Palestinian state?
We are against the annexation of the West Bank, and we feel, as I suspect my noble friend does, that it would do nothing to secure the safety and future prosperity of the State of Israel. That is one of the reasons why we took the decision, in the time around 25 July, to recognise the state of Palestine.
Can the Minister say what the Government are doing to support the Palestinian Authority in its programme to reform governance procedures, with a view to the PA becoming an electable, credible alternative to Hamas?
This is an incredibly important piece of work. As the noble Baroness will know, we have been working for some time to strengthen the Palestinian Authority, because as far as I can see, right now it is the only viable alternative to Hamas. We have been doing training, and it is getting direct support from Michael Barber to try to strengthen the possibility of a democratically elected leadership. For now and, as far as we can see, into the future, the Palestinian Authority is really going to be our best bet in terms of finding the right kind of leadership for Palestine.
My Lords, the last three functioning ICU beds in Gaza are in the Al-Ahli Anglican Hospital. In a time of transition, as we see, I hope, the elimination of Hamas, that will of course get rid of the Hamas-run health ministry. How can we ensure that health services are protected and indeed improved during any transition?
That speaks to the immediate humanitarian problem of getting aid to the people who need it. It speaks to the system-strengthening work we have been doing with the Palestinians. It speaks to the ability to get medical equipment into Gaza, which we are having difficulty doing, notwithstanding the heroic work of many medics who have worked throughout this war to support people and save many lives; and to the work our NHS has done in enabling some critically unwell young children to be brought to the UK for the treatment that they need.
My Lords, does the Minister agree that if the ceasefire is to remain in place, it is absolutely essential that the stabilisation force and the transitional authority be put in place with all possible speed? In so far as the Government have influence in these matters, it is to those objects that they should be directing their attention.
We do have to direct our attention to that and to many other elements. We have a senior military presence within the Civil-Military Coordination Center, and we are supporting it practically, because we will do whatever we can alongside our partners to try to make sure that this ceasefire holds and that we can move on to the next phase.