Humanitarian Situation in Gaza
Gavin Newlands Excerpts(1 week, 5 days ago)
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David Rutley
The hon. Lady makes an important point that we need to think not just about trucks, but tonnage. I will speak to the Development Minister about this particular issue and make sure that we have extra focus on it. We need the trucks, but we need the tonnage, as well. It is vital.
Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
It is good to finally hear those on the Labour Front Bench seemingly find their voice on this issue, after tens of thousands of deaths and months of shameful prevarication, although they are still willing to sell arms to Israel. On the UK Government’s policy on arms sales, the criteria for halting arms sales does not require a legal confirmation that a breach of international humanitarian law has occurred, but only that it might have occurred. Does the Minister not consider that the ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court of war crimes and crimes against humanity and the consideration by the International Court of Justice of potential genocide are indications that breaches of international law might have occurred? In any event, why are we so keen to sell arms to someone we have been pressing so hard to cease operations?
David Rutley
We continue to have grave concerns about the humanitarian situation on the ground, but those are not sufficient to undermine our judgment that Israel is committed to complying with international humanitarian law in general. We have already talked at length about the export licences and our controls around that. We recognise Israel has the right to defend itself.
Oral Answers to Questions
Gavin Newlands Excerpts(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)
Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Mr Andrew Mitchell)
We need a humanitarian pause to get aid in and hostages out, leading to a sustainable, permanent ceasefire. We are pressing for this with Israel, regional leaders and our wider international partners, including the United States.
Mr Mitchell
My hon. Friend has put his finger on a critical point. We do not believe that calling for a general and immediate ceasefire and hoping that it would somehow become permanent will work. A ceasefire will not last if the hostages are still being held. We cannot just will it if neither side wants it, and the conditions need to be in place for it not to collapse within days.
Gavin Newlands
Some of these answers—“We have the toughest arms licence regime”, “We have urged Israel to follow international law”—are the same meaningless, supine nonsense week after week, month after month from this Government. I have said many times that it sickens me that although this Government—and indeed the Labour Front Benchers—called out Putin’s war crimes in Ukraine at light speed, they prevaricate on doing the same when it comes to the Israeli bombardment and siege of Gaza. It sickens me that this Government have abstained on UN Security Council ceasefire resolutions. Will the Minister guarantee that the UK will work with partners to draft a resolution that reflects the will of this House, and finally vote for a ceasefire to end the suffering of so many in Gaza?
Mr Mitchell
On the hon. Gentleman’s final point, which I think was the question, the answer is yes, but in respect of everything else he said, the answer is no.
Israel and Gaza
Gavin Newlands Excerpts(2 months ago)
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Mr Mitchell
My right hon. Friend sets out very well one of the key aspects of the five-point plan, which Britain is doing everything we can to see implemented.
Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
Just a few weeks ago, in a debate on arms exports to Israel, the Minister for Trade Policy told Westminster Hall:
“We take our obligations in this space exceptionally seriously. As I have shown before, we have acted to change policy in relation to changing circumstances on the ground.”—[Official Report, 12 December 2023; Vol. 742, c. 272WH.]
The circumstances are tragic and brutal, and crystal clear to anyone willing to see them: Gaza is being razed to the ground and civilians actively targeted, potentially using the very equipment that the UK is exporting to Israel. Over 12,000 children have been butchered, with the Israel Defence Forces busy taking selfies over the ruins and bodies. What exactly will it take for this Government to suspend arms exports to Israel?
Mr Mitchell
The position that the Minister set out in Westminster Hall was absolutely correct. The Government take legal advice on this matter, the arms export Committee does its work effectively, and we will continue to act on the advice that we are given when we are given it.
Ceasefire in Gaza
Gavin Newlands Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
In the short time available to me, I would like to discuss the value of a Palestinian life and why, for some in this place, it seems to be worth less than a Ukrainian life or an Israeli life.
We all watched in horror as the 7 October atrocity unfolded. No one in this place was not disgusted—sickened—by the act of evil of perpetrated that day. Similarly, we all watched on, horrified, as Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine and carried out unspeakable acts. We spoke as one in our complete condemnation of those acts. That is where the indefensible double standards begin. Government and Labour Front Benchers were able to talk about near genocide and war crimes in Ukraine, yet they are unable to do so now in respect of Gaza.
I want to tell the story of just two families and the tragedy that has befallen them—war crimes. Associated Press reported:
“The sound of gunfire crackled over the phone as the teenage girl hid in the car and spoke. An Israeli tank was near the vehicle as she and her family were trying to heed Israel’s call to evacuate their home in Gaza.
Israeli troops were firing on the car, the teen said in terrified calls to relatives and emergency services. Everyone in the vehicle was killed except her and her 5-year-old female cousin, Hind, she said.
‘They are shooting at us. The tank is next to me.’
And then there was a burst of gunfire. She screamed and fell silent.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent sent an ambulance but lost contact with the crew. The report continues:
“12 days later, the ambulance was discovered blackened and destroyed.
The two medics were dead. The Palestinian Red Crescent accused Israeli forces of targeting the ambulance as it pulled up near the family’s vehicle. The organization said it had coordinated the journey with Israeli forces as in the past.
The family car was found as well with six bodies, including Layan’s and Hind’s.”
Fifteen-year-old Nahed Barbakh was waving a white flag in Gaza when he was shot dead. It was all witnessed by his nine-year-old sister, Rimas, who told ITV News:
“They fired and hit him in the leg and he fell. My father kept telling him to crawl back towards us. Then he was hit in his neck and back… My brother Ramez wanted to go to him. My father grabbed him by the jacket but he got free and ran towards Nahed. Ramez tried to pull him, but then he too was hit, in his heart, and fell on his brother. He looked at us with a smile and then passed away.”
The report goes on:
“She added that she can’t sleep because she cries her ‘eyes out’ every time she thinks of her brothers.”
Their father said:
“They used loudspeakers to tell us to evacuate, when we did they killed my sons before my very eyes.”
Nowhere in Gaza is safe, even when the IDF promise that it will be. It is IDF state-sponsored barbarism.
Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) (SNP)
Anyone in Gaza watching their daughter having a C-section under a tarpaulin without anaesthetic, picking up parts of their brother from around the neighbourhood or burying a child is not worrying about the wording of a motion. They want to see a ceasefire to stop all that now. Does my hon. Friend agree that, whatever happens tonight—whether we vote for the SNP motion or the Labour-amended motion—the House should vote for a ceasefire? That is what is needed.
Gavin Newlands
I could not agree more. That makes some of the nonsense that happened earlier on, which does not do this House any justice whatsoever, even more shameful. Some people need to reflect on their actions this day.
Everything that I have described was carried out while the Government and Labour Front Benchers collectively covered their eyes, put their fingers in their ears and pretended not to see and hear what the rest of us cannot unsee. I asked at the start what the value of a Palestinian life is. Honestly, that question should haunt the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, because I can tell them that 24 Palestinians have been killed for every Israeli killed on 7 October, and that number is going up every single day that we sit here and do nothing.
Israel and Palestine
Gavin Newlands Excerpts(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Mr Mitchell
Yes, Mr Speaker, I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. He refers to the £2 million that was specifically allocated to the convoy from Jordan, but he should be aware that the contribution Britain is making is far more extensive and includes four air flights into el-Arish and the naval operation I described, in addition to what we seek to do in opening the new route from Jordan.
Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
Northern Gaza lies in ruins. The Minister, when he was on the Back Benches, said in 2022 that Aleppo had been
“bombed back to the stone age”
and spoke of “indiscriminate attacks on hospitals” and
“massive breaches of the rules of war and of international humanitarian law”.—[Official Report, 15 March 2022; Vol. 710, c. 835.]
The then Minister of State, now the Home Secretary, speaking on the Syrian situation in 2020, said that nearly 300 civilians—not 23,000 civilians—
“have been killed in Idlib in Aleppo since 1 January… International humanitarian law continues to be ignored, with civilian infrastructure being hit probably as a result of active targeting… The UK has condemned…these flagrant violations of international law and basic human decency... We have repeatedly pressed—including at the UN Security Council—for an immediate…ceasefire.”—[Official Report, 24 February 2020; Vol. 672, c. 23.]
The Minister has said today that it is not for him to decide what is a war crime. Why are this Government so quick—and rightly—to condemn Russia’s war crimes, but not Israel’s war crimes?
Mr Mitchell
The British Government and indeed the Opposition stand up for international humanitarian law and condemn breaches of it whenever they take place. That is why from this Dispatch Box, throughout these terrible days since 7 October, we have consistently appealed to everyone to stand by international humanitarian law and obey what it says.
Israel and Gaza
Gavin Newlands Excerpts(4 months, 1 week ago)
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Mr Mitchell
We are working to get to that point, but we are not there at the moment. We need to do everything we can to reconnect vital infrastructure that has been destroyed. It is not just about people suffering the effects of kinetic activity; it is also about the effect of the lack of food and growing disease. The hon. Lady may rest assured that, in respect of the infrastructure to which she refers, we will do everything we can when we get the opportunity.
Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
I would like to be able to welcome the incremental move in the Foreign Secretary’s joint statement at the weekend, but given the desperate events in Gaza and the position of the vast majority of the rest of the world, these are just weasel words. The Government and those on the Labour Front Bench were rightly quick to condemn the heinous war crimes committed against civilians in Ukraine and by Hamas on 7 October. The Minister has repeatedly said that Israel needs to abide by international law, but he knows that Israel is not doing so. Is the cold-blooded killing of two civilian women seeking sanctuary in a church a war crime—yes or no?
Mr Mitchell
In order to give an answer to the hon. Gentleman’s question, I need to know the full facts, and I very much hope that the full facts will become available before too long.
Israel-Hamas War: Diplomacy
Gavin Newlands Excerpts(4 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Mr Mitchell
I pay tribute to the British team at the United Nations under its leader, Barbara Woodward. That team has an extraordinary effect, punching above Britain’s weight in trying to corral people to agreement, but I hope the hon. Lady will understand that in the circumstances of last week, it was not possible for Britain to agree to a resolution. In many respects, it was a very good resolution, but as I pointed out, if there was not the will to condemn Hamas for the appalling atrocities committed on 7 October, we simply did not feel we could support it.
Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
I have to tell the Minister that a humanitarian pause is merely a delay: innocent children are being bombed, and a humanitarian pause does not stop that. However, can he tell us what consideration is being given to the huge number of Gazans injured in the IDF’s indiscriminate attacks, for whom proper treatment is utterly impossible? Constituents who are NHS clinicians have got in touch with me, looking to offer their assistance in the region just as soon as it is practical and safe to do so. Have any discussions taken place about facilitating such offers?
Mr Mitchell
If, as I think the hon. Gentleman is saying, those are offers to provide hospital and medical support, we—along with others—are actively looking at what support we can give to those who are injured in Gaza and may come out of Gaza.
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Gavin Newlands Excerpts(5 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Mr Mitchell
The British Government have many friends and a brilliant diplomatic network in the region, and we express ourselves without fear or favour to give the best advice that the British Government have.
Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
The Minister said that it is not for Ministers to confirm or ascertain what is and is not a war crime, but I remind him that Government Ministers rightly condemned Vladimir Putin for his war crimes in Ukraine very quickly after the invasion. The Minister mentioned the sanctity of hospitals, which are places protected under the Geneva convention, yet when I mentioned this exact issue last week, he did not accept my analysis of the Geneva convention. With reports of hospitals being bombed, IDF snipers firing into Al-Shifa and civilians, including children, being fired on while trying to evacuate under white flags, I repeat: what will it take for the Government and Opposition Front Benchers to call acts such as this what they are—war crimes?
Mr Mitchell
I have set out very clearly during this statement and in responses to Members across the House the absolutely essential nature of the progress we seek to make. I hope that the hon. Member will accept that my answer this week will be no different from the answer I gave him on Wednesday last week.
Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation
Gavin Newlands Excerpts(5 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Mr Mitchell
I thank the hon. Lady for her support for humanitarian pauses. She can rest assured that we are having detailed discussions with all our regional partners. In respect of Egypt, which she mentioned specifically, I had a discussion yesterday at around midday with the Egyptian ambassador.
Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
In depriving the civilian population of Gaza of water, food, medicine and power, combined with the forced relocation of civilians, not respecting the sanctity of hospitals—indeed, bombing or threatening to bomb hospitals—and targeting civilian infrastructure including refugee camps, Israel has broken articles 3, 18, 23, 33 and 47 of the Geneva conventions. What exactly do the Israel Defence Forces have to do before this Government call out Israel for its war crimes?
Mr Mitchell
I would not accept the hon. Gentleman’s analysis, in his question, of the Geneva convention, but when he talks about the need for water, food and medicines, he may rest assured that Britain is focused very much on those supplies in its humanitarian efforts.
Libya Floods
Gavin Newlands Excerpts(7 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)
Of course, we join both Front Benchers in sending our deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost loved ones in these devastating floods. The scale of the destruction is utterly unimaginable, and Libya needs international solidarity as it moves from the search and rescue phase to the recovery phase. As climate change bites harder and we see more fierce natural disasters, it will so often be the case that those least able to cope with the effects of climate change are impacted to the greatest extent. So will the UK Government invest much more in international loss and damage funding, as the Scottish Government have championed worldwide? Of course, we will support the Government in any support they offer Libya. However, given the drastic cut of 30% in the international aid budget and the catastrophic impact it has had on our ability to be a global player and react to the needs of countries hit by climate change disasters such as we see in Libya right now, what more support can the Libyans expect from the Government?
David Rutley
I thank the hon. Member for his support. The action that is being taken in the short term is the top priority right now. He makes important points about how we are working to affect those who are climate-vulnerable. We will continue to do that, but I reassure him that in this moment in time we have found support, we will continue to monitor the situation and we will provide whatever other support we need to provide. Our funding through the UN is pivotal at this time.