Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with King Abdullah of Jordan about his role in and responsibility for the oversight of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
King Abdullah raised his concerns over violence at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif site during the visit to Jordan in September by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron). We regularly discuss measures to de-escalate tensions and maintain the status quo with all levels of the Jordanian government.
On 29 October the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), met a delegation of Arab Heads of Mission, led by the Jordanian Ambassador, to discuss the violence at the Holy Sites and the implementation of the recent Israel-Jordan agreement. He assured the Ambassador and delegation that we will do all we can to support efforts to de-escalate tensions and maintain the status quo, which includes encouraging all sides to respect the King of Jordan’s custodianship.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 13 March (HL5374), what steps they are taking to alert Gazan citizens of the need to vacate the area where Hamas are rebuilding tunnels close to the border with Israel.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have no plans to alert Gazan citizens of the need to vacate areas where Hamas are rebuilding tunnels. It would be the role of the de facto government in Gaza or the Government of Israel to give a warning if the civilian population were under threat from any military action. International Humanitarian Law requires warring parties to give ‘effective advance warning’ of attacks that may affect civilian populations.
We stress the importance of protecting the civilian population in accordance with international law with the Government of Israel and we have asked all those with influence to stress the same point to Hamas.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to protect the viability of the two-state solution, in the light of the statement by the Hamas leadership on 14 December that they are intent on the destruction of Israel.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We condemn the statement by senior Hamas leader, Khalil al-Hayya, on 14 December claiming that "the illusion of Israel will be removed" by Hamas' military wing.
The Government's policy on Hamas has not changed and is clear: Hamas must renounce violence, recognise Israel and accept previously signed agreements. We believe that only a negotiated two-state solution will resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict once and for all and end the occupation.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the value to the Palestinian economy of the employment of Palestinians by Israeli companies in the West Bank.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Palestinian Central Bureau for Statistics reports that 23,100 Palestinians from the West Bank are employed in Israeli settlements (statistics for Q2, 2014). We do not have any estimation of the value of this employment to the Palestinian economy. We consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal under international law, regardless of whether Palestinians are employed in companies there or not.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the smuggling of arms into Gaza from the sea.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have made no formal assessment on this issue. We do however hold conversations with the Israeli and Palestinian security sectors regarding the threat of weapons reaching militant groups in Gaza by land and sea.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of patients from Gaza, the West Bank and Syria who are being treated in Israeli hospitals.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are aware of patients being treated in Israeli hospitals from Gaza, the West Bank and Syria although we do not have an assessment of exact numbers.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the leadership of the Palestinian Authority about the killing of Israeli worshippers in a synagogue in West Jerusalem on 18 November.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We condemn the appalling attack on worshipers at the West Jerusalem Synagogue and call on leaders to make clear global abhorrence at this attack. On 19 November our Deputy Consul General in Jerusalem discussed the attack with Prime Minister Hamdallah. Hamdallah expressed his strong condemnation of the attack on the synagogue and drew attention to the fact that President Abbas and the Palestinian Cabinet both condemned the attack on 19 November.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the leadership of the Palestinian Authority about incitement to violence in Palestinian media.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We deplore all incitement to violence and continually urge the leadership of both the Palestinian and Israeli authorities to avoid engaging in, or encouraging, the type of action and language which will make it more difficult to achieve a peaceful negotiated solution to the conflict.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the source of funding for the terrorist activities of ISIL and Hamas; and whether they consider any such funding to come from individuals in Qatar.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We, and our international partners, estimate that a significant portion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)’s revenue comes from its sale of oil; extortion is its other main source of funds. Degrading ISIL’s finances is a key part of our strategy for defeating ISIL, and tackling the threat it poses to the UK and UK interests abroad. We understand that Hamas currently relies on funding from allies across the region. This funding is directed at the political wing of the organisation.
Our partners in the Middle East, including the Gulf States, have made clear by their current actions that they are fully committed to taking action against ISIL and tackling other terrorist groups. We are aware of reports that individual citizens from the region may be providing support to ISIL, the military wing of Hamas and other extremist groups, but there is no evidence to suggest that the governments we engage with are involved. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), discusses these issues regularly with his counterparts, most recently during the visit of the Qatari Emir on 29 October where he agreed to increase cooperation on sharing information on groups of concern. The UK welcomes the recent Qatari legislation to prevent terrorist funding by regulating charities that are involved in politics or send money abroad; we encourage the swift implementation of this legislation.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Iraq about the destruction of churches, synagogues and holy sites in Iraq.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Government is deeply concerned about the destruction of churches and other holy sites in Iraq. This includes the destruction of the Mosque of the Prophet Younis, which housed the Tomb of Jonah, by the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in July, and the destruction of the Green Church, which was thought to be the oldest church in the Middle East, by ISIL in September. We co-sponsored a resolution at the Human Rights Council in September, which highlighted and condemned the destruction of monuments, shrines, churches, mosques and other places of worship in Iraq and encouraged the Government of Iraq to protect these sites. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), condemned the destruction of religious sites in his statement of 30 July, which followed a meeting with representatives of the Iraqi Christian community. Officials from our Embassy in Baghdad and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials in London have met a number of religious leaders to discuss the situation for religious groups in Iraq and have also met the Iraqi government to urge them to take appropriate steps to protect religious communities. We have also funded a series of grass roots meetings among religious leaders in Iraq to promote religious tolerance and freedom of religion or belief. We continue to encourage influential religious leaders in Iraq to speak out publicly and condemn sectarian violence.