Qatar: Israeli Strike

Ayoub Khan Excerpts

Wednesday 10th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

As we discussed last week, the circumstances of the famine in Gaza are horrifying and it is absolutely obvious that the restrictions on aid into Gaza, for which the Israeli Government are responsible, are contributing very significantly indeed to those circumstances. The Israeli Government have raised methodological concerns with the IPC judgments. Those concerns arise from the fact that there is not free access into Gaza. We stand by the IPC and the judgments it has made. It is clear that the restrictions of the Israeli Government, on which I have been clear at the Dispatch Box innumerable times and have seen for myself at the border, are responsible for those circumstances.

[Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)]

We have had a number of ceasefires historically. Each one was violated by the Israeli Government. The recent attack in Qatar is a clear example that the Israeli Government are not interested in a ceasefire; they are interested in a genocide, taking over the whole of the Gaza strip and west bank—we see that in their reactions and in what they say in the public arena. None of the levers that we have spoken about in this House seems to have had any impact. It is like a toothless tiger: we say we are going to apply this pressure and that pressure, and nothing seems to be done. This blatant, unlawful attack on Qatar requires punishment. Does the Minister not think that the immediate, unconditional recognition of a state of Palestine is a form of punishment and would go further to a ceasefire than what we are talking about?

[Mr Falconer]

I set out in response to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine) the process by which we will make the determination on the recognition points that we set out in July. That point is very soon; the high-level week of the UN General Assembly is just weeks away. The hon. Gentleman will have an opportunity, I am sure, to question me and other members of the Government after the Prime Minister has made his determination.

I do not think it is right that we should think of recognition as a punishment. If that is indeed the determination that we make, it will be a reflection of our long-standing commitment to a two-state solution. It is unlikely in and of itself to ameliorate the horrifying famine and the many other sources of agony that flow to the Palestinian people at the moment. That does not mean that, if the Prime Minister makes that determination, it may not be the right thing to do, but the House should not think that it will necessarily bring any immediate improvement in the humanitarian situation in Gaza.