Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the protection of healthcare workers in Gaza under international humanitarian law.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are deeply concerned by the reports that Israeli airstrikes have hit health facilities and killed and injured medical personnel. Medical workers and facilities, including ambulances, and rescue personnel must be protected in accordance with International Humanitarian Law and allowed to provide life-saving services. It is unacceptable that North Gaza now has no functioning hospitals after strikes on Kamal Adwan hospital. On 5 November, I raised the UK's grave concerns that Kamal Adwan continues to come under fire with the Israeli Ambassador. This Government has been clear that Israel must do much more to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure and humanitarian workers, including the medics Gaza so desperately needs.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of conflict in (a) Gaza and (b) Lebanon on stability in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Recent developments in Syria demonstrate how unstable the situation is. As I told colleagues in the House on 2 December, events in Syria are moving quickly, and the trajectory is unclear. Syria continues to be a theatre for regional tensions to play out, exacerbating the already dire humanitarian and security situation. Conflict in Lebanon led to the mass displacement of over half a million Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians fleeing into Syria. We continue to monitor this as people are displaced, once again, due to developments in the North West. The UN-led political process remains the only path to a stable, peaceful and prosperous Syria and we continue to call on the Assad regime to engage meaningfully with the process.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held discussions with the Syrian opposition.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to the UN-facilitated political process and recognises the vital role that the Opposition has in facilitating a lasting peace settlement in Syria. We regularly meet representatives of the Syrian Opposition at official level including most recently on 13 November. Furthermore this year, as part of our ongoing support, the UK provided a direct grant to the Syrian Negotiation Commission to support their efforts.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent Turkish airstrikes in Northeastern Syria on the humanitarian situation in the area.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK, together with our humanitarian partners, is closely monitoring the impacts of recent Turkish airstrikes in North East Syria and continues to provide life-saving humanitarian support there. UK officials regularly engage with Turkey on the situation in North East Syria, most recently on 26 November. The UK recognises Turkey's legitimate security interests in Syria but also the need to protect civilian lives and infrastructure, and to avoid destabilising activity. Stability in the region is essential to prevent the worsening of the already serious humanitarian situation in northern Syria and enable the Global Coalition and its partners to continue the fight against Daesh.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with F-35 programme partners on the risk of components supplied to Israel being used to commit violations of international law.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On day one in office, the Foreign Secretary commissioned a thorough review into Israel's compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), given the grave concerns about the conduct and consequences of the war in Gaza for civilians. The UK's robust export licensing criteria states that the Government will not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of IHL. Given the conclusions of the review, on 2 September the Government suspended around 30 export licences to Israel, effectively covering all arms exports for use in the current conflict in Gaza, exempting components for F-35 aircraft which, for reasons outlined in the Foreign Secretary's Statement and the Business and Trade Secretary's Written Ministerial Statement, have been excluded from the suspension.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2024 to Question 7719 on Israel: Arms Trade, what the basis is for a lack of sufficient verifiable evidence of possible breaches of International Humanitarian Law; and what account he has taken of submissions to his Department by (a) Al-Haq, (b) Global Legal Action Network, (c) Amnesty International, (d) Al-Mezan, (e) Human Rights Watch, (f) B'tselem, (g) Yesh-Din, and (h) Gisha.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The International Humanitarian Law (IHL) assessment process gathers information from a wide range of sources, including reporting from international and multilateral bodies, NGOs on the ground, open-source evidence and internal reporting. We do not comment on individual pieces of evidence.
IHL assessments consider the three aspects of Israel's compliance: conduct of hostilities; humanitarian access and relief; and detainees. A lack of sufficient verifiable evidence applies only to the conduct of hostilities. This is in part due to the opaque and contested information environment in Gaza and the challenges of accessing specific and sensitive information, such as intended targets and anticipated civilian harm. However, the assessment's findings on Israel's compliance and commitment in the areas of humanitarian relief and treatment of detainees give cause for concern about its attitude and approach to the conduct of hostilities, as does the scale of the destruction and the number of civilian deaths. The Foreign Secretary has raised these concerns with the Government of Israel.
More information on the process can be found at: Summary of the IHL process, decision and the factors taken into account - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2024 to Question 8316 Gaza: Humanitarian aid and with reference to the update published by Gisha on 23 October 2024 on the petition to the Israeli High Court by Gisha, Adalah, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, what steps he is taking to help the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is intolerable. The UK condemns Israel's restrictions on aid - as the Prime Minister has said, the world will not tolerate any more excuses from Israel on humanitarian assistance. The Prime Minister stressed the importance of getting much more aid into Gaza in a call with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on 19 October; the Foreign Secretary reiterated this in his call with Foreign Minister Katz on 27 October. The UK is committed to alleviating the suffering in Gaza and we provide significant funding to partners to support those most in need, including matching up to £10 million of public donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee's Middle East humanitarian appeal.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of alleged reports of (a) sexual and (b) gender-based violence against Palestinian women and girls by Israeli Defence Forces.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are deeply concerned by allegations of sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians and the disproportionate impact of the conflict on women, children and vulnerable populations. The UK unequivocally condemns any alleged violations and abuses, including sexual violence, and calls for all reports to be fully investigated to ensure justice for victims and survivors. A member of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Team of Experts will support with a gender-responsive and survivor-centred response to reports of sexual violence in both Israel and the OPTs. Following our decision to suspend some arms exports to Israel on 2 September, the Foreign Secretary has raised and continues to raise our concerns around International Humanitarian Law compliance with the Israeli government.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on creating a medical corridor to enable disabled Palestinians in Gaza to be treated in (a) East Jerusalem and (b) the Occupied West Bank.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Prime Minister said in his statement on 28 October, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is unacceptable. We remain gravely concerned about deteriorating health provision, particularly in northern Gaza. We have pressed Israel at senior levels to urgently establish sustained, safe and timely passage for patients who need medical or surgical interventions not available in Gaza. Most recently, the Foreign Secretary's Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories raised the issue of medical evacuations for injured Palestinians with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During my visit to Al Arish, Egypt on 16 October, where I announced £1 million of UK assistance for Egypt's support to medically evacuated Gazans, I saw that many tonnes of lifesaving aid continue to be denied entry into Gaza by Israel. The UK is supporting the provision of essential healthcare to Palestinian civilians, including through field hospitals operated by UK-Med in Gaza, and through support to the Egyptian health ministry to care for medically evacuated Palestinians.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the potential merits of creating a medical corridor to enable disabled Palestinians in Northern Gaza to be treated in Southern Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The plight of sick, injured and disabled people in Gaza is deeply distressing. We have pressed Israel at senior levels to urgently establish sustained, safe and timely passage for patients who need medical or surgical interventions not available in Gaza. Most recently, the Foreign Secretary's Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories raised the issue of medical evacuations for injured Palestinians with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The UK is supporting the provision of essential healthcare to Palestinian civilians, including through field hospitals operated by UK-Med in Gaza, and through WHO Egypt to support medically evacuated Palestinians.