Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they have taken to secure the end of Israel's blockade of Gaza, and to monitor the extent of international aid arriving in Gaza as a result of the last cease-fire agreement.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Government continues to urge the parties to prioritise progress towards a durable solution for Gaza, and to take the necessary steps to ensure Gaza’s reconstruction and economic recovery. There is an urgent need for agreement to address the terrible situation in Gaza and the drivers of conflict.
We welcome the recent positive steps that Israel has taken to ease some restrictions. However, we want to see Israel go much further, and we are continuing to call on them to do so. Under the temporary Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, over 95,000 people have now been able to buy materials to repair their homes. The UK continues to encourage the full implementation of the reconstruction mechanism as soon as possible.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about allowing the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza without intervention by Israel's military services.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Government has not made any representations to the Israeli authorities regarding the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to Gaza. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) travel advice is clear on the subject: “The FCO advise against all travel to Gaza (including the waters off Gaza). Don’t attempt to enter Gaza by sea, including via a flotilla. The Israeli Navy routinely patrol the area and have made clear that they will prevent any vessels attempting to breach the restrictions. You will be detained and deported, and your electronic equipment is likely to be confiscated. The FCO does not believe that humanitarian supplies should be delivered in this way. Anyone wishing to send humanitarian assistance or other goods to Gaza should do so through established channels.”Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they plan to take with international partners to support the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to Gaza.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
While we are aware of the intention of a ship departing from Sweden to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, we have no plans to offer any support to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. We understand that the Israeli authorities have offered for it to dock in the port of Ashdod and to provide onward transportation into Gaza.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to assist the Palestinian Authority to meet its financial obligation to its employees in the light of the refusal by the government of Israel to transfer funds collected each month on the Authority's behalf in taxes and revenue.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We have been raising this issue regularly with Israeli officials. Most recently, our Ambassador to Israel and the Head of the Near East Department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office raised our deep concerns about the impact of Israel’s withholding of transfer of tax revenues when they met with the Israeli National Security Adviser on 9 March. We are deeply concerned by Israel’s decision to freeze the transfer of tax revenues and the impact this will have on the Palestinian Authority (PA). Israel must continue to fulfil its obligations under the Oslo Accords, including through the transfer of tax revenue to the PA.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider the marine territory relating to Gaza to be that agreed in the Oslo Accords or some lesser distance from the shoreline; and which country they consider to be the owner of mineral rights in such a marine territory.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Oslo Accords did not agree the marine territory relating to Gaza. They set out rules for maritime activities, by defining certain maritime activity zones and what could take place in them, including but not limited to setting the 20 nautical mile fishing limit. Off the coast of Gaza, Marine 1/Gaza Marine lies entirely within the control of the Palestinian Authority. Marine 2/Noa straddles the Gaza/Israeli maritime border and so has been split on that basis into two fields: Noa South (under the control of the Palestinian Authority) and Noa (under the control of Israel).Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Palestinian civilians, at the time of the latest ceasefire, had been (1) killed, and (2) injured, as a result of Israel’s military action in Gaza; how many of those casualties were children; and what were the comparable figures for Israeli civilian casualties from Palestinian military action in the same period.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
According to UN figures, the number of Palestinian civilians killed as a result of Israel’s military action in Gaza was, by the time of the 26 August ceasefire, 1,462. 495 of them were children. The UN does not provide exact figures for the number of injured Palestinian civilians. However, it estimates that over 5,000 women, children and elderly Palestinians were injured.
According to Israeli government statistics, seven civilians in Israel were killed by rocket/mortar fire from militant groups in Gaza. Six of these were Israeli (including one child) and one was a Thai national. 126 were injured. Further casualties from Hamas rockets were thought to have been prevented by the Israeli Iron Dome system.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 30 July (HL1482), whether they now consider that the recent military action by Israel in Gaza is proportionate, as defined in the Joint Service Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict; and whether they will publish their assessment of the proportionality of that action.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Prime Minister, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has been clear on the UK’s recognition of Israel’s right to take proportionate action to defend itself and our condemnation of Hamas’s rocket attacks. We have consistently urged Israel to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, to exercise restraint, and to help find ways to bring this situation to an end. There must now be meaningful, effective and independent investigations into possible violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by all sides, including those abuses committed by Hamas and other militant groups. Both sides should cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council, which must itself be independent and balanced in its approach.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - 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 18 August (HL1710), whether they regard that the lifting of the Israeli blockade of Gaza is a requirement for avoiding "a return to the status quo ante" set out in that answer.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
A durable ceasefire agreement will have to address the underlying causes of the conflict to bring an end to the cycle of violence. Avoiding a return to the status quo ante will require an agreement which: addresses Israel’s legitimate security concerns; allows the Palestinian Government under the leadership of President Abbas to resume control of Gaza to restore effective and accountable governance; and ensures the lifting of Israeli restrictions, to ease the suffering of ordinary Palestinians, and allows Gaza’s economy to grow.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what further action they plan to take internationally to ban the trade in goods and services from Israel's settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
While the issue of settlement produce is a subject of active discussion with our EU partners, the Government has no plans to take this further internationally. We are working together to ensure continued, full and effective implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products. This ongoing work includes measures to ensure that settlement produce does not enter the EU duty-free, under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and steps to ensure that EU-wide guidelines are issued to make sure that settlement products are not incorrectly labelled as Israeli produce, in violation of EU consumer protection regulations.