Gaza: Humanitarian Situation

John Slinger Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Doughty]

I set out a timetable earlier. The Foreign Secretary was clear that it will be six to nine months, but we will try to do it at the earlier end of that scale. I want to be clear with the House that that is because we need to make sure that this regime is designed effectively, so that it will have the impact that we are aiming for. We have incredible teams of sanctions officials who work on these issues. We are very successful in that the regimes that we run around the world have an impact as well as being legally and evidentially sound. It is important that we get it right, but we want to see this brought in as soon as possible.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

The Government have rightly described Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the west bank as illegal. In the light of this, surely Israel’s control of Gaza’s territorial waters must be in some question. Can my hon. Friend the Minister give his thoughts on what pressure this Government and the international community can bring to bear on Israel to ensure that aid can come in, perhaps through a naval route and indeed other routes?

[Stephen Doughty]

Matters that ultimately relate to maritime delimitations and so on must be done in line with the United Nations convention on the law of the sea. We are a firm defender of that principle. My hon. Friend rightly talks about different routes through which aid can get in. I would draw him back to what I said earlier, which is that the best thing that can be done is to reopen Erez, to make sure that Kerem Shalom is open fully and to ensure that those dual-use restrictions are removed. That will make the tangible difference on the ground right now.