Gaza: Humanitarian Situation

Statement

The following Statement was made in the House of Commons on Tuesday 28 January.

“With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will update the House on the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and detail our latest efforts to get aid to those in desperate need.

This is a fragile ceasefire, but it brings much-needed hope for Israeli and Palestinian people. The agreement to end the fighting and release the hostages is what this Labour Government have been pressing for from the moment we came to office. I thank Qatar, Egypt and the US for their tireless efforts, and echo the Prime Minister in wishing Emily Damari and the other former hostages well as they begin to recover from their horrific ordeals. We continue to call for the immediate release of all those still waiting to be reunited with their loved ones, including the remaining hostages with links to the UK.

Civilians in Gaza have endured suffering that defies belief, and this deal brings hope that they can start to rebuild their lives. In the days since the guns were silenced, Israel has opened up mechanisms to surge in aid. The UN and aid organisations have been working tirelessly to deliver the humanitarian aims of the ceasefire agreement. After so much time waiting at the border—delays that I saw for myself in December—trucks are now streaming in. Partners on the ground report that more than 200,000 food parcels have been dispatched to more than 130 distribution points since the ceasefire. This Government have been at the forefront of the humanitarian effort in Gaza since we came to office—overturning the suspension of funding to UNRWA, and then boosting our support; assisting UK-Med field hospitals to help the injured; working with Egypt to support those medevac-ed out of Gaza; and providing vital resources to UNICEF and the World Food Programme.

Today I am pleased to announce that the UK is investing in the ceasefire. UK support will be distributed to the UN and key medical partners, so that tens of thousands of civilians receive the healthcare, food and shelter that they need. That support will amount to £17 million to get more aid into Gaza and restore services. The figure also includes £2 million for the World Bank to support the construction and restoration of critical water and energy infrastructure. The UK has already helped about 284,000 people in Gaza to access water, sanitation and hygiene services. Today’s uplift brings our commitment for the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Palestinian refugees in the region to £129 million this financial year.

I am also pleased to announce that, this morning, Jordanian air force helicopters started landing in Gaza with UK-funded medical supplies and logistical support from UK Armed Forces. I thank Jordan for its excellent commitment to getting aid in, in such challenging circumstances, and we will continue to support our Jordanian partners in this initiative. However, more action is needed. The air bridge to Gaza is no substitute for road routes, which must remain open. We also call on Israel to allow in more essential items such as tents, mattresses and medical equipment. As people start to move home, basic services need to be put back in place, and unexploded bombs and mines cleared. Without that, even more lives will be lost—and, of course, the UN and humanitarian agencies must be able to operate freely.

The Government have repeatedly stated the need for UNRWA to continue its lifesaving assistance to the people of Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Knesset legislation taking effect on 30 January risks impeding the progress made since the ceasefire; Israel must allow the agency to continue to operate. The legislation does not and cannot change the fact that Israel has a responsibility under international law to facilitate humanitarian assistance. As the UN Security Council heard last week, 1 million Gazan children need support to process their traumatic experiences—their suffering cannot be understated—and about 15,500 patients need medical evacuation, according to the World Health Organization. Routes must be opened for them to obtain that treatment.

The UK and the wider international community stand ready to support Palestinians as they begin to rebuild their lives, their homes and their communities. We are under no illusions about the scale of the challenge ahead. The overwhelming majority of homes in Gaza are damaged or destroyed, the economy has collapsed, and basic services, including energy and water, have been knocked out. We are therefore working with partners urgently to find the best ways in which to finance and support recovery and reconstruction efforts. It is essential that the coming surge of assistance is properly co-ordinated, and with the access and security to reach those in need. The Palestinian Authority has a crucial role to play, and we are providing technical and financial assistance to the authority, including assistance to support the urgent recovery of basic services.

The UK has always been clear about the fact that this ceasefire is just the first step. We must build confidence on all sides to help sustain it, progress through all its phases, and turn it into a lasting peace that assures the security of Israelis and Palestinians alike. We in the UK will focus all our efforts on keeping up the momentum, using every diplomatic channel available. As Members will know, the Foreign Secretary and the Minister for the Middle East kept up the drumbeat of engagement during their visits to Egypt and the United Nations last week. We will keep up the pace until every hostage is released, aid reaches all those in need, and Palestinians are able to rebuild their homes and their lives. I commend this Statement to the House”.

My Lords, since the heinous terrorist attacks of 7 October, we have stood united across the House in calling for the unconditional release of all hostages by Hamas as the only way to reach a sustainable end to this abhorrent conflict. We now feel both the anxiety and the hope of the families who have waited, anticipating the release of the remarkably brave women hostages who have been returned thus far under the ceasefire agreement. We saw this morning the release of the hostage Agam Berger, with, we hope, seven more set to be freed today. We pay tribute to all their families through their suffering.

It is important to remember the hostages who we learned on Monday will not return home alive, having been murdered at the hands of Hamas. This is the most devastating news for their families, and we must have them in our thoughts during the uncertainty in the days and weeks ahead. As the Minister said in the other place, we want the ceasefire agreement to hold, but we stress that every single hostage must be released.

The Minister rightly referred to UNRWA. Although no one can doubt the size of the distribution network, we cannot ignore the problems within that organisation. It is in no one’s interest to pretend that they have not happened. We know the facts: UNRWA staff and institutions have been infiltrated by Hamas, and there have been shocking allegations of UNRWA staff involvement in the 7 October attacks. Following the UN internal investigations and the subsequent sackings, the Colonna report and the reforms need to be implemented in full. The Minister in the other place said:

“I have discussed this directly with the head of UNRWA, and I know that my colleagues have done so repeatedly”.—[Official Report, Commons, 28/1/25; col. 188.]

Does the Minister have any update for the House on how these discussions are going, and can she tell us what progress has been made on the implementation of the Colonna report?

My Lords, in a week where we have all acknowledged as a country, including our Head of State, the horrors of 80 years ago, we should be sensitive to the ongoing humanitarian crisis and conflict in the Middle East. There is no place for anti-Semitism in the UK or anywhere, and we should learn the lessons of dehumanisation. That is why we should condemn President Trump when he describes the cleaning out of Gaza, and condemn extremists who called Palestinians human animals. Language is important, and therefore sensitivity should be part of our policy-making.

It is worth recognising, as the noble Lord did, that Hamas continues to dehumanise hostages. For the families of hostages who will have their loved ones returned alive, we give thanks for the ceasefire, and we commiserate with those who will receive their loved ones’ bodies. We should hope that the ceasefire holds, because it should provide—even though it is very hard to see—a basis for future and further political dialogue. But two things are actively working against that.

The first is the implementation, today, of the ban on UNRWA in Israeli sovereign territory. I welcome that this has been condemned by the Government. What actions will the UK take? UNRWA operates under a mandate. The Israeli Government have obligations under that UN mandate, and UNRWA should be free to provide humanitarian assistance within the Occupied Territories, unfettered at the border areas within Israeli territory. I would be grateful to hear what actions the Government will now take. While we welcome the fact that Ministers can condemn and raise concerns, there should not be impunity for breaching the UN mandate.

In the West Bank, we continue to see unacceptable violence, not only with regard to the settlers but in the impunity of those within the outposts, and the violence there, which is illegal under Israeli law. There can be no two-state solution if one of the authorities is systematically losing territory day by day. What actions will the Government take on expanding the sanctions on those who are perpetrating the violence, as well as ensuring that there is no impunity for those who are carrying out actions against Palestinian settlements?

I am grateful to both noble Lords for their comments and questions. I echo the remarks made by the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, about Holocaust Memorial Day and the ever-vigilant way that we must think about anti-Semitism across the world, not least here in our own country.

The noble Lord opposite mentioned how united we have been at various points throughout this conflict. It is important that we maintain that unity whenever we can. As the noble Lord said, we need to support those hostages who are now released and are trying to rebuild their lives after the most traumatic events that they must have endured.

As the noble Lord said, our thoughts too must be with those who are enduring the most unconscionable grief at the loss of their relatives in these circumstances, as well as with those who continue to wait. Every hour that passes, they must experience agony waiting for news of their loved ones who are still held.

I am pleased that we made a decision early in the Government to restore aid to UNRWA. It is difficult to see how getting sufficient aid on the scale needed and to the places and people who so desperately need it can be achieved without UNRWA. However it is done, that aid must get to those people.

As the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, reminded us, the Foreign Secretary has said that it would not be right for Hamas to lead the work of rebuilding. As the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, said, that work will be extensive. It must not just address the physical infrastructure; it needs to think too about the trauma that the community in Gaza has been through and, most of all, about the experience of children. Sometimes it will be right for the UK to take the lead and sometimes it will right that we work through others. We have some expertise we can lend to this, so I can promise the noble Lord that, where it is right for us to take the lead, then this is what should happen.

My Lords, I will pick up on something that the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, said about education. Understandably, much of the emphasis in the humanitarian response to what has been going on in Gaza has been about providing food, fuel and medicines. Under the United Nations, education is a right for all children. There are thousands and thousands of traumatised children living in Gaza who desperately need to get back to school. Would the Minister agree that this should now be given very high priority in all our reconstruction work with the international community? UNRWA has a huge amount of experience in providing education and schools across Gaza and the rest of the Occupied Territories. Would she agree that it should be restored and allowed to continue its work so that children in Gaza and elsewhere in the Occupied Territories should be able to get back to school and learn, to gain the skills and knowledge that they need to establish themselves in future?

It is important to remember that our priority is to get the food, medicine and shelter to the people in Gaza who need it—most of all the children—but every day that is lost in education is a barrier to that community being able to support itself and to prosper and thrive. The only way that peace can be achieved is with a secure Israel and a prosperous Gaza. This seems such a long way from where we are. The noble Baroness is right to remind us that the need to get food and medicine in should go alongside the need for education. It seems very difficult from where we are, but it is important that we do not lose sight of the needs of young people to have the education that is their right.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her very sensitive response to these extremely difficult problems. I know that a number of other noble Lords share my concerns as to how the Government will ensure that the much-needed reconstruction aid for Gaza is not appropriated by Hamas or other military groups to use to prepare for further attacks on Israel.