Gaza: Humanitarian Situation

Tom Tugendhat Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge) (Con)]

First, I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement, and I welcome the statement he has made. Let me start by sharing with him the simple horror that, I think, the whole House shares at the suffering and cruelty inflicted on so many by so few. Time and again, we have seen how this happens: a small group of extremists dominates a society, murders the lawful authority and takes power for itself, leading to suffering falling on the heads of thousands. Tragically, that is exactly what we have seen in Gaza.

When the Palestinian Authority took control of the territory in 2005, Mahmoud Abbas began enforcing a prohibition against militants carrying weapons in public. As we know, that led to street battles, the murder of Palestinian police officers and the takeover by Hamas. Since then, we have seen the terrible price of that takeover. We have seen the murder of hundreds and the exile of more—perhaps even thousands—who simply wanted to live in peace. The cruelty of life under the Iranian-funded and armed terror group is simply horrific.

Just look at the record on aid. In the decade ending in 2023, which is the last I can get reliable figures for, the United Kingdom gave almost £1 billion—£800 million and more—in aid to the Palestinian Authority. It was more if we count what went through the UN agencies, particularly the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, and even more if we count the aid given through the generosity of the British people by charities. What have we seen for it? We have seen the vile indoctrination of hatred, and the control of food and services to achieve dictatorial compliance. We have seen the biggest network of tunnels built to prepare for war. It is striking, is it not, that these air raid shelters were not built to protect the civilians, who were never allowed in. Palestinian women and children were never allowed in the tunnels. [Interruption.] I can see the hon. Lady shaking her head. If she wants to side with Hamas, she is welcome to—[Hon. Members: “Shame!”] But if she wishes to stand with the Palestinian people, she should recognise what Hamas have done. [Interruption.]

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. We need to keep tempers down on both sides of the House, or time on the statement will run out.

[Tom Tugendhat]

Those who stand with the Palestinian people stand against Hamas.

Again and again, sadly, we have seen Hamas torturing and murdering so many. Does that leave others innocent? Of course it does not. Does it leave Israel innocent? No. The deaths of John Chapman, James Kirby, Jim Henderson and four others who were not British while working for the World Central Kitchen shows that civilian casualties have been too common, and the Australian inquiry into the events points to extremely clear problems that the Israel Defence Forces must resolve.

The Opposition also condemn the blockages of aid getting into the territory and Egypt’s closure of the southern border, just as we condemn the unnecessary Israeli restrictions. However, we recognise that aid has been weaponised by the Hamas leadership that has been in control for more than 20 years. Again and again, Hamas have chosen to hurt, murder and destroy their own people for the political benefit of their masters in Tehran and their vile ideology.

Britain now has a choice. Do we stand with those who see a different future? Do we want to support Palestinian voices who are rightly crying out for justice, and Israeli voices who have clearly said, “Enough”? Do we want to recognise that the abuses we have seen, which states such as Jordan and Egypt condemn, have continued for too long? That is the position we should be holding, working with Egypt which controls the southern border and with Jordan which rightly observes the abuses we have seen far too often by settlers in the west bank. Will the Minister please commit to engaging more closely with those countries supporting Palestinian and Israeli voices seeking peace?

Perhaps more importantly, given the extension the Minister made into areas such as Yemen, will he look at the root of so much of the violence and cruelty he listed today, which is of course in Iran? The regime in Tehran has brought murder, hatred, death and destruction to hundreds of thousands, including some people here in the United Kingdom. In Yemen, Gaza and sadly across the middle east, we have seen the price of the vile ayatollah’s regime. It is time for that to end and to relieve the suffering of so many in the Arab world and across the whole of the continent.

[Stephen Doughty]

I was disappointed by the tone of the shadow Foreign Secretary’s response. I urge him to think very, very carefully about the comments he made and consider withdrawing them. I thought they were entirely inappropriate and entirely inaccurate. Nobody on this side of the House has any sympathy whatsoever for the activities of Hamas. They are a proscribed organisation and they are appalling. Critically, I was clear that they must play no part in the future government of Gaza and, indeed, that they must disarm. We are committed to that and the whole Government are committed to that.

I was disappointed, too, that the right hon. Gentleman did not refer to the actions that need to take place to actually alleviate the suffering in Gaza. The fact is that aid is being denied entry. I have seen it with my own eyes, as have others on this side of the House, and Israel needs to take responsibility. [Interruption.] Israel needs to take responsibility. It has clear responsibilities as the occupying power, legally and morally, and it must act. That is the message we have been taking to it very, very clearly.

I am glad that the right hon. Gentleman mentioned the attack at World Central Kitchen. It was an appalling and utterly despicable attack. Brave British nationals, former service personnel, lost their lives, as did people from other countries. We need to see justice and accountability, and that is lacking—sadly and appallingly lacking—at present. We will continue to urge for that justice and accountability to be delivered.

I am also disappointed that the right hon. Gentleman made no mention of the fact that his colleagues in the other place voted the other day to regret the expansion of our global human rights and international humanitarian law sanctions regime. That was an extraordinary decision, not least because the powers in that new legislation will enable us to target the individuals responsible anywhere, not just in relation to Gaza and the west bank, but in Sudan, Yemen and many other conflicts that I know he cares about deeply. Perhaps he will explain at some point why his colleagues voted in that way.

Lastly, the right hon. Gentleman mentioned Iran. He knows the Government’s position on Iran. He also knows of the very serious actions that we have taken against Iran, which include the huge package of sanctions against Iran announced on 8 September, action against Lebanese Hezbollah, and our condemnation of the proxy and partner groups it is funding and supporting across the middle east, whether in Yemen, Lebanon or Iraq, and the militia groups aligned with it that are causing so much destabilisation and harm. He knows that we condemn Iran’s actions absolutely, and we will continue to take the appropriate action.