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1,916 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesWith permission, I will update the House on the situation in Israel and Gaza. Last week, my noble Friend the Foreign Secretary visited the region as part of sustained British…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesThe hon. Lady will understand that the issue is not with providing aid, but getting it in. There is plenty of aid ready to go into Gaza; it is getting it in that is most…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesPhilippe Lazzarini did not indicate a specific timeline, but I would be very surprised if it could not be completed within the next two months. It is essential that it is, because…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesThe answer to that has been set out in the House on a number of occasions. Israel plans to act in accordance with international humanitarian law and has the ability to do so. That…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesMy right hon. and learned Friend points—absolutely rightly, I believe—to the hideous nature of the charge against Israel of genocide, and I agree with him on that. On the release…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesOn the subject of both arms sales and the ICJ, I have set out for the hon. Gentleman the Government’s position. I am afraid that, just because he asks the same question again, it…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesI do not agree with the right hon. Gentleman that we need to do things differently. We have been pressing very hard for these changes to be made. When he was in the region, my…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesI thank the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee for her comments. On the latter point, as I have said, we continually remind the Israeli Government of their duties under…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesI thank the shadow Foreign Secretary for his comments, and I will try to address them all. Let me start by thanking him for his comment about British troops who are deployed in…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesMy right hon. Friend makes an extremely good point. We and our allies and friends, and virtually everyone in the region, believe that the only answer is a two-state solution, with…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesI believe it essential that there is an immediate humanitarian pause to get aid in and hostages out, that Hamas must agree to the release of all hostages, that Hamas can no longer…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesThat is why the Government have paused future payments. However, I should also make it clear that during my discussion this morning with Philippe Lazzarini, who runs UNRWA, I…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesWe will make our plans for funding known to the House in the usual way, but we cannot do so until we have seen the report and are clear that what has been revealed cannot happen…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesI think I have answered the point that the hon. Lady makes about the ICJ. Let me reiterate once again that we regularly call on Israel to uphold its obligations under…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesThe review will not be a case of UNRWA marking its own homework. It has specifically accepted that it must be a different part of the United Nations, far away from UNRWA, that…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesAs we have made clear, we always emphasise the importance of abiding by international humanitarian law. At the start of her question, the hon. and learned Lady set out the two key…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesOn the final point, of course we are working very closely with the Qataris and the Administration of the United States to effect the release of the hostages. Although I cannot…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesOn the hon. Gentleman’s final point, I have set out the position on arms sales and the regime that the British Government set up and support. I think I have also set out the…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesThe hon. Gentleman will know that the Government, in particular through the work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, have done their best to stand up for…29 Jan 2024HANSARD Israel and the Occupied Palestinian TerritoriesMy right hon. Friend makes an extremely good point, and she will have noted that those are exactly the tactics that the British Government are employing. We are quite clear about…29 Jan 2024