Middle East

Baroness Hussein-Ece Excerpts

Thursday 16th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

That is a valid point. We have made it clear there is no role for Hamas in a future Palestinian state or in the governance of Palestine. Part of the work at Wilton Park will be to say how we identify that and how we manage this. We have seen it happen in other areas as well. We have to ensure that there is full decommissioning and a state that has the confidence of the people of Palestine and the region, because the region as a whole has to be secure. Israel has to feel safe and secure, as does Palestine.

[Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Walney (CB)]

My Lords—

[Baroness in Waiting/Government Whip (Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent)]

My Lords, there is time for both noble Lords to speak, so we will go to the Liberal Democrats and then to our colleague from the Cross Benches.

[Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)]

My Lords, I am president of Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine. I absolutely accept what the Leader of the House just said about Hamas. It is coming up a lot that Hamas has no place in any future governance of a free and independent Palestine. I think everyone agrees on that. The tributes to the Arab and Muslim countries, which have been vital and instrumental in bringing this about, have been very well placed. I am particularly pleased that Turkey’s President Erdoğan has played such a key role, as was emphasised by President Trump, to put pressure on Hamas to agree to this deal and to all the conditions on it to disarm.

We are now in a very fragile moment between phase 1 and phase 2. Phase 1 is clear now: the urgent need is for aid to come in. The Rafah crossing is still closed.

[Noble Lords]

Question!

[Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)]

I am being heckled, and I am going to continue. I am not going to be bullied by Conservatives. There is an urgent need for aid and there has not been enough emphasis on that. The Rafah crossing is still closed, aid is not getting through and people are still suffering. Medical aid has not got through. There are 20,000 orphan children, at least. What special emphasis will be placed in the discussions on all those children who have nobody, who are orphaned and need special protection? I ask the Minister, as my noble friend did, about the protection for children, particularly in Palestine.

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

There were a number of items in there, particularly on the aid being delivered—the noble Baroness asked about the Rafah crossing. It was opened briefly, then closed again; my understanding is that preparations are now being made to reopen it. Though airdrops are clearly a useful way of getting aid in, it has to get in through lorries. I saw either yesterday or this morning that Tom Fletcher was out there working on that as well.

The noble Baroness makes a particular point about the children of Gaza, and she is absolutely right to do so. The traumas many of those children are going to feel from what they have been through will be enormous. Looking at the reconstruction conference taking place at Wilton Park, and the work that Michael Barber is doing as the UK envoy in Palestine, one of the issues has to be looking at the services that are available and how they could be provided at pace, and ongoing. You need recognition that life is not going to be normal; it is not a ceasefire followed by life as normal the next day. The infrastructure of the country is in a dire state. We have heard from the right reverend Prelate about hospitals and schools being destroyed. There is so much work to be done, but the efforts should be in ensuring that those young people growing up now will be part of the future of their country. They can do that only if the right support is in place now and the traumas they have been through, and the tragedies they have suffered, are also dealt with in a way that allows them to play a full part in being the future of their state.