Iran-Israel Conflict

Jon Pearce Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

The right hon. Gentleman brings his usual eloquence to these matters. I agree with him save for his initial remark: I would not call it the Israel regime; it is a democracy, with all the ups and downs and faults of any democracy. Of course, I recognise that this is an existential threat for Israel and its people, which is why it is important that we ask for restraint at this time, because we do not want to see regional escalation. That is why it is important that diplomacy prevails.

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

The Iranian regime threatens peace and security around the world: it destabilises the middle east through its terrorist proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis; it supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; and it is sworn to wiping Israel off the face of the earth. It must never be allowed to have a nuclear bomb. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that that aim should be achieved through diplomacy, and that all the world’s efforts must be placed on Tehran to back down, sign a deal and end this conflict?

[Mr Lammy]

Yes, I do.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Jon Pearce Excerpts

Tuesday 10th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his questions. The two-state solution conference next week is an important moment. We are discussing with our friends and allies our approach to that conference, and no doubt I will return to this House next week—with your permission, Mr Speaker—to discuss that further. I will not speculate on further sanctions from the Dispatch Box. We have taken these steps because of the extremist rhetoric and the damage that these two men have done to Palestinian human rights, and we will keep further sanctions under review.

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

I very much welcome the statement from the Minister. It is absolutely right to target the enemies of peace in the Netanyahu Government; their will is entirely separate and different from the will of the Israeli people. I very much welcome the Minister’s reference to supporting civilised society in Israel and Palestine, and it is true that there can be no top-down two-state solution without building those communities. Will the Minister update the House on the UK’s proposals for an international fund for Israeli and Palestinian peace?

[Mr Falconer]

I thank my hon. Friend from the east midlands. He has long been committed to these issues, and particularly to the difficult but vital work of ensuring that civil society in Israel and Palestine works on peace-building projects. I know that he was in the region recently, and I commend him for his approach. We hope to set out our approach to the international fund in due course, following the announcements of the Prime Minister. We want to make as full a contribution as we can to bringing peacemakers on both sides of this conflict together.

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Jon Pearce Excerpts

Wednesday 4th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I am surprised that the right hon. Member thinks that there is any question as to why Foreign Office Ministers might need to leave some degree of ambiguity about when they take actions, including all the ones that have been discussed this afternoon, such as sanctions. These principles of why we might want to do things without pre-notifying the House of each and every step are relatively well-established, I think, but I am happy to discuss in further detail why we do that. On the point about F-35 components, where we know that they are going to Israel, we are suspending that. It is only because we are not able to control the onward transmission of the global spares pool that this at least theoretical risk exists.

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for all the work he is doing and the endless number of statements he has had to make on these horrific issues. I absolutely agree with him and support him in calling for both Israel and Hamas to make sure that all humanitarian aid is available and gets to innocent Palestinians, who desperately need it. The best way that we can solve this problem is through a ceasefire. Will he join me in expressing regret that after Israel accepted the Witkoff framework proposals for a ceasefire, Hamas decided to turn them down? We must put as much pressure as possible on Hamas to move forward with the ceasefire as soon as possible.

[Mr Falconer]

On Sunday I was clear that Hamas should engage in ceasefire talks, should return to the table and should release all hostages. A ceasefire is desperately needed and is the only route forward.

Middle East Update

Jon Pearce Excerpts

Tuesday 6th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I reassure my hon. Friend that we want to make our full contribution in moving a two-state solution forward, and of course, we are in touch with all key regional partners in the run-up to the June conference.

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

Missing from so much of the debate around the awful conflict in Gaza are the voices of the Israeli people and the opposition. They have been crying out for another hostage and ceasefire deal. Israel is a liberal democracy with elections due next year. Does the Minister agree with opposition figures, such as Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz and Yair Golan, that the threatened expansion of operations in Gaza will do nothing to bring the 59 hostages home or to remove the Iranian-sponsored death cult that is Hamas?

[Mr Falconer]

My hon. Friend has a deep focus on these issues and is committed to playing his full role here in them. He will understand why I decline the opportunity to comment on Israel’s internal politics. I will restate the British Government’s view, though, that the fastest route to safety for those hostages is a ceasefire. The points that he makes are made with some force.

Gaza: Israeli Military Operations

Jon Pearce Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

The Foreign Secretary has clarified his comments on the occasion to which the hon. Gentleman refers, and he will know well from his own background that a long-standing policy of Governments of all kinds is that it is not for Ministers to act as courts. There are competent international courts that make such determinations.

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

The resumption of the conflict in Gaza is incredibly tragic, and it is especially heartbreaking for the hostage families and all those brave people we have seen protesting in Israel against their Government and in Gaza against the death cult that is Hamas. Does the Minister agree that the conflict today could end if Hamas released the 59 hostages and left Gazans to live in peace and security? Will he update us on plans for the international plan for peace for Israelis and Palestinians?

[Mr Falconer]

My hon. Friend is right: the hostages must be released, and Hamas can play no role in the future of governance of Gaza. Their role, which was correctly described by the shadow Foreign Secretary as being supported by Iran, has been malign. It has been malign for the Palestinians, for the Israelis, for the UK and for the region.

On my hon. Friend’s question about the proposal for the international peace building fund, we will come back to the House with further details of our approach. As the situation continues to evolve, we want to carefully consider how best we can contribute to peace building, in the way that I described in answer to a previous question.

Israeli-Palestinian Peace: International Fund

Jon Pearce Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) for securing this debate. I support our Labour Government, who are taking a leading role in setting up an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace, as envisaged by the Alliance for Middle East Peace and advocated by Labour Friends of Israel for almost a decade. In recent months, there have been hours of debate in this place about how the UK can best contribute towards peace in the middle east following the horrific scenes of death, destruction and suffering on 7 October and the subsequent war in Gaza.

After the last serious peace process failed in 2014, it was said that

“the negotiations did not fail because the gaps were too wide, but because the level of trust was too low.”

Today, trust is in even shorter supply and neither leadership is in a position or has a mindset to make the painful compromises that peace and a two-state solution will inevitably entail. That is a challenge for all of us who want to kick-start the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and it is a challenge that only such a bottom-up initiative, rooted not in the halls of power but in civil society, can seriously resolve. It is our job to change the lack of trust to build those constituencies for peace. This is a tried and tested model, as we saw in Northern Ireland. Jonathan Powell said it was

“the great unsung hero of the peace process”.

I saw the potential when I visited Israel and Palestine on such an initiative in July 2023. I met organisations and NGOs run on a shoestring that dedicate their work to providing spaces for Israelis and Palestinians to meet and work together outside the confines of conflict. EcoPeace, for example, brings together Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians to forge new and creative solutions to climate change in a region increasingly co-dependent on natural resources. I met young Palestinian activists in Ramallah who are working to train the next generation of political leaders for the long-awaited Palestinian Authority elections and a more democratically engaged and pluralistic Palestinian future. Supporting such civil society groups is how we can play our part in changing attitudes on the ground in Israel and Palestine. That is how we will build the trust necessary for genuine progress towards peace from the bottom up.

I am delighted that the Prime Minister announced in December that we will be convening a meeting with international partners to discuss how we can take forward the G7’s commitment to supporting civil society. I look forward to hearing from the Minister about these plans, including when the meeting will take place and which partners will be attending.

Gaza

Jon Pearce Excerpts

Tuesday 4th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Catherine West]

Sometimes, the words we use are really important. There has been an enormous amount of suffering. We know that so many in Israel feel that we do not understand their need for security, and so many in Gaza feel that we do not understand the depth of their suffering. We must redouble our efforts to communicate what we want, which is a two-state solution and a peaceful future for both communities, which must live side by side.

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

The leaders of the Arab world have made welcome proposals about the future of Gaza and its people. What update can the Minister give on the UK’s support for those proposals, and will she join me in welcoming the fact that the proposals recognise that the terrorist death cult Hamas can have no part in the future governance of Gaza?

[Catherine West]

My hon. Friend is quite right to say that, as a proscribed terror organisation, Hamas have certainly displayed some very frightening characteristics that we would expect of a terrorist organisation. There was also the macabre pantomime that we saw in the past couple of weeks during the release of hostages—that was truly shocking. I thank him for his question. The exact detail on the next stage of the negotiation is to be defined by the two parties, but we play a real role both with the ally, which is Israel, but also working with Egypt, Qatar and the wider region. That is why our Minister right now is in the region, making the point that we want to be involved, pushing for a peaceful solution and to see that day when terrorism is not extant and the two communities can live side by side in peace.

Middle East

Jon Pearce Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for bringing his tremendous experience in the House to bear. He is absolutely right. He will be pleased to know that when I discussed these issues with President Abbas on Monday, he was complimentary about the conversation he had had with President-elect Trump on these matters, and of course, he has an existing relationship with President-elect Trump. That left me very hopeful indeed.

The right hon. Gentleman is right: the expansion particularly undermines the 1967 settlement, and it makes it very difficult to achieve the two-state solution. Those who try to thwart the possibility of a two-state solution are saying that their belief is either in no state at all, which is entirely unacceptable, or it is in one state, in which case they had better get on and ensure equality for all.

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

I am sure the whole House will join me in paying tribute to the incredible bravery of the hostage families. We are joined in the House by the families of Tal Shoham, Nimrod Cohen, Ohad Yahalomi, Omri Miran and Shay Levinson. I met with them this morning. Their suffering continues—the uncertainty, the sleepless nights—while they wait for a final deal and to know whether their loved ones will be coming home. What reassurances can the Foreign Secretary give to them and to the House that the UK will do everything in its power to make sure that their loved ones come home, that all UK-related hostages come home as a matter of priority and that all hostages come home as soon as possible, to end their suffering?

[Mr Lammy]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising the issue of hostages. I pay tribute to the 17 British nationals killed since the abhorrent attack on 7 October. Our hope is that three of the UK and UK-linked hostages will be released in the first phase, as they fall into the criteria for that release, which we anticipate will be agreed later today. Of course, it is our sincere hope that as we get to the second and third phases, all hostages will be released.

We continue to work with all UK-linked hostage families. I was with many on Monday, and our representatives and diplomats have been in touch with them overnight and in the last few days. This is the most difficult of times, as they wait to see the fate of their loved ones. My hon. Friend will recognise that there was fighting yesterday, in which nine Israel Defence Forces soldiers lost their lives, there was fighting this morning, and it is likely that there will be fighting right up to the ceasefire on Sunday. This is the most challenging of moments, as those hostage families wait and, in the coming days and weeks, pray that their loved ones are returned.

Northern Gaza

Jon Pearce Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I am a Foreign Office Minister and I do not treat in thoughts and prayers—this House of course feels united in our anguish about what we are seeing in Gaza—but what we do in the Foreign Office is seek diplomatically to advance a political solution, with an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and, of course, a two-state solution. That two-state solution must include a sovereign, viable Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel, and the routes to get there will be diplomatic. It is on those questions that we base our assessment of when would be the moment to recognise a Palestinian state. I recognise that close allies have made different judgments than the UK about when to recognise a Palestinian state. This is not just a question of recognition; it is about a viable state that exists and functions next to a safe and secure Israel, and that is the objective of this Government.

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

In recent weeks we have seen the distressing footage of Israeli hostage Liri Albag, who has been held captive by Hamas for over 14 months. The hostage families, including Mandy Damari, the mother of British national Emily Damari, are campaigning day and night for the ICRC and other humanitarian organisations to have access to the remaining hostages, but Hamas are refusing. Will the Minister condemn Hamas’s refusal to secure humanitarian access to the remaining hostages and set out what steps he is taking to return those hostages to their families?

[Mr Falconer]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question and I know how much time he has spent with hostage families over recent months. I do condemn both Hamas’s refusal to release the hostages, with British nationals and UK-linked persons among them, and the lack of access for the ICRC and other medical agencies. I am consistent on this point: whether it is Israeli hostages or Palestinians in Israeli detention, the ICRC provides vital work and a lifesaving function, and access should be provided to it in times of conflict on both sides. That is an essential humanitarian step. It has long been a principle of international law, and I am deeply distressed to see that norm being undermined by Hamas and others.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jon Pearce Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Hamish Falconer]

I welcome Laila to the House. I saw her in Cairo last week, and raised these issues with the Egyptian Foreign Minister. Alaa’s case is very much in our mind, and we will do everything we can to secure his release as quickly as we can.

[Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)]

T4. In 2020, the US committed £250 million to support peace building and Palestinian economic development. Will the Minister consider how we can work with our partners in the US, using our world-leading development expertise and our experience in conflict resolution in Northern Ireland, to take a lead in this vital work?

[Hamish Falconer]

My hon. Friend asks an important question. Peace building at a civil society level has an important role to play in trying to resolve this conflict. I will write to him with details of our plans.