Middle East Update

Lord Leigh of Hurley Excerpts

Wednesday 7th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

—Lady Harman. I nearly said “Hayman”. She and I were both at the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations, and we focused on this agenda: how you ensure that when talking about peace you include and embrace women in those processes. Certainly, the support we have been giving to the Palestinian Authority is focused on that too. When the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary met Prime Minister Mustafa of the Palestinian Authority, we were focused on that delivery. But, of course, until we get that ceasefire agreement implemented and that necessary humanitarian aid in, it is very difficult to do much more.

[Lord Leigh of Hurley (Con)]

My Lords, the Minister will be aware that over 1.7 million tonnes of aid have been delivered in Gaza and that under Article 23 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, aid can be restricted when it is known that it has been seized by enemy forces. Anyone who has been to Kerem Shalom crossing, as I have, will know that the aid is being stolen by Hamas for its own advantage. The Minister has quite rightly said there is no role for Hamas in the future of a potential state of Palestine, but at the same time, he is urging Israel to sit down and negotiate with, I assume, Hamas. What steps are the Government taking to find moderate groups of people, to reach out to them, to encourage them to try to create some civic society and get them to the negotiating table, because they are the only interlocutors who can reach an agreement that would be acceptable to all parties?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I suspect that there are people in the State of Israel who share some of those commitments. Of course, we very much welcomed President Trump’s and the US’s involvement in achieving that ceasefire agreement. Let us not forget that the Government of Israel signed a ceasefire agreement. It is a fact that Hamas has broken some of it, but I am not taking sides; I am saying that both sides have an agreement, so let us ensure that they both return to the table and stick to that agreement so we can get a ceasefire and get the aid in as necessary.

I hear what the noble Lord says about aid being stolen by Hamas and others, but the simple fact is— I mentioned this before—that the scale of the problem is so huge that we need to use every mechanism to get aid in. It has been very serious, and I think all noble Lords from all sides of the House recognise the humanitarian crisis that now exists in Gaza.