Middle East Update

Debate between Lord Collins of Highbury and Baroness Blackstone

Wednesday 7th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I agree with the noble Lord. On one of the many occasions when I was challenging him as the Minister about ensuring access to aid, he said that airlifts and sea routes are all possible, but the main thing to deliver the scale of aid is opening those road routes with trucks. We are absolutely ready. We have got those trucks full, we are ready to deliver that aid, and we need the Israeli Government to ensure that they can have that access. We are putting every bit of diplomatic pressure, with our allies, to ensure that they do this. I accept that action is not about talking, it is about persuading.

[Baroness Blackstone (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome much of the Minister’s response to what the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, said about the appalling, massive expansion of the war in Gaza, although I was a little disappointed by his response on recognising Palestine as a state, which is now urgent.

I raise a slightly different issue: the Knesset is now taking steps which will destroy Israeli NGOs’ work to hold their Government to account for their cruel and inhumane treatment of Palestinian civilians. The change in the law being proposed threatens to destroy these NGOs and in doing so will deny Israeli civil society their voices. Can the Minister say what steps the Government will take to try to stop this happening, so that independent monitoring and holding to account by NGOs can continue?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My noble friend makes a very good point, and she is well aware of both my personal and this Government’s commitment to supporting civil society in all contexts. We have been pressing diplomatically. A lot of legislation has gone through the Knesset which still is not being implemented. We are absolutely clear that there should be no impediment to NGOs and civil society delivering that support and aid that are so desperately needed in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Debate between Lord Collins of Highbury and Baroness Blackstone

Monday 10th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I have made it absolutely clear on previous occasions, and I repeat, that there is no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza. We will continue to work with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the US and regional partners to build a consensus for a post-conflict Gaza governance and security framework that supports the conditions for a permanent and sustainable peace. As part of that process, we have committed financial support of £5 million to support the PA in relation to this. We have also established two key roles in the Palestinian Authority to ensure that recovery and this new form of governance. We are absolutely committed that there is no role for Hamas in the future.

[Baroness Blackstone (Lab)]

My Lords, I congratulate the Government on their decision to spend an extra £17 million to support the needs of Gazans for food, housing and shelter. Will he tell the House how that £17 million is going to be spent, particularly in the absence of UNRWA, which has disgracefully been denied its continued operation in East Jerusalem? If there are no other agencies with the right experience to deliver that aid, it is hard to think how Gazans are going to get it.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

As my noble friend said, on 28 January, the Minister for Development announced that further £17 million in funding to ensure that healthcare, food and shelter reach tens of thousands of civilians and support vital infrastructure across the Occupied Territories and in neighbouring countries. We have also delivered life-saving UK-funded medical supplies via Jordanian helicopters, an operation supported by the UK military.

On UNRWA, the United Kingdom continues to lead international action to press for a resolution to this issue. On 31 January, the Foreign Secretary joined his French and German counterparts to call on Israel to abide by its international obligations. We are in close contact with the United Nations on next steps. The Foreign Secretary spoke to the UN Secretary-General on 30 January, and the Minister for Development spoke to the emergency relief co-ordinator, Tom Fletcher, on 24 January. It is my hope that I shall be meeting him tomorrow to reiterate the message in terms of access for humanitarian aid into the Occupied Territories.

Syria

Debate between Lord Collins of Highbury and Baroness Blackstone

Thursday 12th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blackstone (Lab)]

My Lords, may I ask my noble friend the Minister a little more about how this £11 million in extra aid will be spent? He mentioned the use of the UN and other NGOs, but I wonder whether there have been any preliminary contacts with HTS and, if not, when these might take place, to discuss how aid should be distributed but also to try to establish a little more about its intentions and assess whether they are entirely benign, which I hope they will be.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

Well, the situation is fast moving, and we are keeping it under constant review. HTS is a proscribed organisation in the United Kingdom, having been added as an alias of al-Qaeda in 2017. I say very clearly that we will judge HTS by its actions and continue to monitor closely how it and other parties to this conflict treat all civilians in areas that it controls. The Government do not routinely comment on whether a group is being considered for proscription or deproscription, but I stress that we are keeping the matter under constant review and will be making judgments based on actions, not just on the original position.