Qatar: Israeli Strike Debate
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Stella Creasy
Main Page: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)Department Debates - View all Stella Creasy's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Qatar: Israeli Strike
Stella Creasy Excerpts(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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Mr Falconer
The hon. Gentleman says “15%”, when in fact he means 15% of components of the total F-35 supply. The truth about the total supply to Israel is that it is less than 1%.
Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
The Minister is absolutely right to call for a session at the United Nations—nobody can think that attacking the people trying to broker peace is going to lead to a ceasefire—but ahead of that, this country must have made some assessment of the case for the session and the motion. Will the Minister tell us what assessment his officials have made about the civilian casualties and whether this strike is proportionate under the boundaries of the laws of armed conflict, as set out in international law? If we go to the UN, what case will we be making?
Mr Falconer
I would not want to be drawn on a casualty tally from the UK. As I set out in my response, Qatar has been clear about its own assessments and these things tend to develop in the immediate aftermath of a strike, so I will not be drawn on casualties or the number of people struck. Qatar, quite rightly, will release that information when it is available. My hon. Friend asks about the international law tests against which this strike must be judged. Those tests are self-defence and imminence, and in any session of the UN Security Council those are the tests that we would expect Israel to be able to satisfy.