Gaza: Peace Talks

Question

15:38:00

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the prospects for the current peace talks involving Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

My Lords, resolving the conflict has been a priority since day 1 of this Government. The fighting must stop and all sides must seize the opportunity to open a pathway to lasting peace and stability. We are encouraged by the progress being made on ceasefire negotiations and urge all parties to show the flexibility needed to reach an agreement. We continue to use every diplomatic lever to bring about a ceasefire and secure the safe release of hostages in co-ordination with international partners.

My Lords, does my noble friend not agree that Palestinians, Israelis and indeed the whole world need a permanent ceasefire—not a quick fix, but a real end to hostilities? All the hostages should be out and Palestinian civilians should be returned to what little remains of their Gaza homes north and south. There should be no more starvation—which means preserving UNRWA—no reduction in the size of this integral part of the state of Palestine and no Israeli settlements. A Marshall-type plan is needed for the recovery of Gaza, with everyone held to respecting international law. Surely, this is the only path to real and stable peace for both Israelis and Palestinians. How will the Government help achieve that?

I thank my noble friend and acknowledge the work that he did as Minister for the Middle East and North Africa. He is absolutely right that a permanent peace is what we need to seek. A ceasefire would only ever be the first step. The hostages must be released and be home with their families. We also agree on the importance of UNRWA being able to continue its work. My noble friend asked about reconstruction. We are thinking very much about the next phase of planning in Gaza and building up its governance and security institutions. This must be predicated on tangible progress towards a Palestinian state.

My Lords, I am sure that the whole House is united in wishing to see peace in this terrible conflict. The key to a sustainable end to the fighting in Gaza remains, first, the elimination of Hamas and, secondly, the release of the hostages, whose suffering is truly intolerable. It should be intolerable for anyone who cares about human dignity and human rights. Does the Minister have any information on the well-being of the British national hostage, Emily Damari?

The noble Lord is completely right in everything he said about the hostages. My honourable friend Hamish Falconer the Minister for the Middle East, the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister have met on several occasions Emily’s family and others with British links who are wrongly held in Gaza. We are doing everything we can, using all levers to secure their immediate release.

My Lords, any agreement that will allow the hostages to come home and the violence against the Palestinian civilians to end cannot come too soon. Does the Minister agree that the most represented group among Palestinian deaths and verified casualties are children between the ages of five and nine? The suffering will continue even if there is a ceasefire, because there are no educational facilities separate to those provided by UNRWA and no health facilities, especially for girls. Will the UK play a crucial role, as it did after the liberation of Mosul, to support pop-up education and psychosocial support for young children in particular? If there is to be long-term sustainable peace, we cannot allow a traumatised generation of children to continue to suffer.

I agree with the noble Lord. The ceasefire would be only the beginning. He is also right to remind us that around 50% of the bodies identified in Gaza so far have been of children and women. We are providing substantial aid to UNRWA and other agencies that are providing the support that he wishes to see in Gaza and in neighbouring places as well. That includes education, food, medicine and the psychosocial support that they are going to need for some years to come.

My Lords, I strongly welcome the possibility of an end to the killing, but is not the sad lesson of the history of this region that the world’s attention is strongly on it and the need for solutions as long as violence is threatened or immediate? As soon as the violence goes away, the world’s attention moves elsewhere. After the slaughter that has taken place, is it not vital that we try to build something constructive out of it? That can occur in the long term only if the Palestinians have a state of their own.

That is right. The United Kingdom Government stand ready to play a leading role in reconstruction and securing a stable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction must be Palestinian led, though, and support for future governance of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and maintaining the viability of a future Palestinian state are an important part of the UK’s approach.

My Lords, to follow on from the last question, it is vital that a sustainable reconciliation process happens, hopefully after any peace deal. Bearing in mind what happened with us in Northern Ireland dealing with domestic terrorism, is it not important to set rules in relation to any elections that take place to any Palestinian Authority? Would not those rules have to include a commitment to non-violence and recognition of the State of Israel?

These issues of reconciliation and truth and the process that needs to be undergone are fiendishly difficult, as the noble Baroness has experienced and which we can see when we look at any of these processes anywhere in the world, from Chile to South Africa to Northern Ireland—and I hope in the future in Israel-Gaza. She made her point very well.

My Lords, I am sure I speak for all in your Lordships’ House in recognising the importance of a peace agreement; we are on the brink. We hope, and those of faith pray, that this agreement is reached. Will the Minister acknowledge, as I do, the important role that the United States—and indeed the incoming Administration—Egypt and in particular Qatar have played in their persistence in ensuring that this deal is reached? We all want to see the hostages released; we want to see aid into Gaza, and we want to see peace and security across the Holy Land. Will the Minister ensure that, as others have said, the momentum is sustained? You must be in the game, you must persist, and you must keep the momentum going to see the peace and security that we all so desire and that, most importantly, Israelis and Palestinians need now.

The noble Lord is right. It is important that we acknowledge the role of all players who have been instrumental in facilitating negotiations and smoothing this along, including, as he says, the United States, Egypt and Qatar. Of course, we have hope, given recent announcements, but I would draw a strong distinction between hope and optimism. We need to be realistic and patient, but our hope remains, and I have more hope today than we perhaps did a week ago.

Does my noble friend agree that there has also been an increase in violence in the West Bank? Will the Government confirm that they are totally opposed to any expansion of settlements in the West Bank no matter what the American Government decide?

As we have discussed previously, the problem with settlements and some of the activity we have seen around them is that it makes the two-state solution more difficult to deliver in practical terms—so we do have concerns, as the noble Lord says.

My Lords, can the Minister confirm that in respect of these particular talks, quite apart from the vital necessity of the release of the hostages, it is very much the imperative that the Israelis are made to open more spaces for relief to starving Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere?

The Israeli Government have a responsibility to allow aid to those who need it. The situation is urgent: the hunger and the deaths from the cold that we have seen among young children because of the change in the weather are appalling. We appeal to the Israeli Government to allow the necessary aid to reach those who need it.

My Lords, will the Minister take this opportunity to recognise the courage and commitment of those groups of Israelis and Palestinians working for peace who have continued to do so throughout this conflict? Will she also ensure that they are involved in the desperately difficult process that will follow any ceasefire of building a sustainable peace?

As in many conflicts, there are some incredibly courageous individuals who risk their own lives to bring forward the cause of peace. It is only right that we are reminded of those people today. We should also remember the more than 300 aid workers who have been killed throughout this conflict. I thank the noble Baroness for her comments.