(2 days, 1 hour ago)
Lords ChamberRead Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support the healthcare system in Gaza.
Captain of the King’s Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard and Deputy Chief Whip (Baroness Wheeler) (Lab)
My Lords, before we start the debate, I remind speakers that they have two minutes and ask them to please stick to that time. We have a lot of speakers to get through and we want to finish the debate on time. Thank you.
Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (Lab)
My Lords, this debate sits comfortably on the back of the debate that we have just heard. Let me immediately set before the House my interests: I am the director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. Our work is global: it addresses human rights abuses, and breaches of humanitarian law and the laws of war around the world. We are currently engaged in work on China, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus, Sudan and now Syria. We do legal training in many other countries too. At the moment, I am personally co-chairing a task force for President Zelensky of Ukraine on the war crime of the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia. Warrants were issued by the International Criminal Court and celebrated by many nations.
I was a member of the legal panel which reviewed the evidence that was to be used, by the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor, to apply for warrants before the court against Hamas and its leadership for the atrocity crimes committed on 7 October—horrifying crimes—and against the Israeli war leaders Netanyahu and Gallant for crimes against the laws of war. That related to the failure to enable access to humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people.
The review involved looking at whether thresholds for evidence had been met, but decisions were always made by the prosecutor’s office. The warrants have now been issued by a court of law, not by the prosecutors. It relates to the impact of the absence of humanitarian aid on the well-being and health of the people of Palestine, of Gaza.
I sought this debate because of the grievous humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the near collapse of the healthcare system, with its enormous consequences for suffering people, and because of my concern that Parliament had been too silent on the suffering of the people in Gaza. We are on the brink of a negotiated ceasefire and, thank God, the release of the hostages. I hope and pray that it may be so. But it should not distract us from the dire immediate need for humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people. Those who are conducting this war on behalf of Israel, or who step in to the role of mediators or peacekeepers in the weeks and months to come, have to enable the immediate delivery of substantial aid.
A huge number of hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed and those which remain can barely function. Many medical staff have been killed. There is very little food and water in the region, and no fuel. A hospital cannot function without electricity for incubators, dialysis machines, operating theatres and sterilisation units. Disease is now rampant in the area because of the gross state of sanitation. The infrastructure of Gaza—from its sewers to its water supply pipes, to its schools, mosques and churches—has been destroyed: it is a moonscape. For over a year, no chlorine has been allowed to enter Gaza.
There is little medicine and virtually no medical supplies. Surgeons have had to operate without anaesthesia. The number of people, especially children, who have lost limbs runs into the thousands. To prevent people bleeding to death, ragged remains of limbs have to be sawn off and sutured. Modern doctors are not trained for the sheer horror of doing this kind of operation with patients who are conscious. Many of the international doctors have testified to the fact that they and other healthcare workers working for international organisations are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of their experiences.
Israel’s debilitation of Gaza’s healthcare system is justified to the world on the basis that there are Hamas military targets within the hospitals, which may well be true. But what humane war leaders are prepared to kill people in their hospital beds or babies in incubators when there is a Hamas presence in a hospital? I will turn to some of the research that has been done on that in a minute.
Some 62% of all the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed. That increases to 80% in northern Gaza. It would be hard to find a single family that has not lost multiple relatives. According to Israel, it has used 70,000 tonnes of bombs, which surpasses the tonnage dropped in Dresden, Hamburg and London combined during the six-year Second World War. The Geneva Convention sought to create new rules of engagement after the horrors of the Second World War, but they seem to count for nothing.
On 10 January, the World Health Organization warned that the Al-Awda hospital, the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza, is so overwhelmed with patients and critically low on essential supplies that care is basically impossible. Damaged roads and insufficient facilitation by the Israeli authorities have made safe access for the WHO impossible. Are we accusing it of making these things up? The UN estimates that, as of 31 December 2024—Christmas time—14,000 patients required medical evacuation abroad in order to meet their needs.
In the emergency debate of the UN Security Council on 3 January, on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the WHO said that Israeli forces had been conducting a systematic dismantling of the health system in northern Gaza. The WHO has verified that 654 attacks have been made on healthcare facilities. The UN human rights office published a report on 31 December claiming that
“Israel’s pattern of deadly attacks on and near hospitals in Gaza … pushed the healthcare system to the brink of total collapse”,
and that
“The conduct of hostilities in Gaza since 7 October has destroyed the healthcare system in Gaza, with predictably devastating consequences for the Palestinian people”.
The horrors go on. On 8 November 2024, the IPC Famine Review Committee stated:
“Famine thresholds may have already been crossed or else will be in the near future”
in northern Gaza. The UN estimates that 60,000 children will require treatment for acute malnutrition in the course of this year.
Before the conflict, some 500 trucks entered Gaza every day. Now, every single person in Gaza requires humanitarian assistance, but in October, 57 trucks a day were allowed to cross into Gaza on average. Of course, it vacillates, but in this House we keep hearing that looting is the problem, with people taking the aid. No mention is made, I have noticed, of the extent to which attacks have been made on the humanitarian aid trucks by settlers from the West Bank. They have torn down humanitarian aid and overturned lorries, with IDF soldiers looking on, inactive.
A report by 29 NGOs, including Save the Children, Oxfam and others, detailed the looting of aid trucks as an ongoing issue, but called the theft of goods
“a consequence of Israel’s targeting of the remaining police forces in Gaza, scarcity of essential goods, lack of routes and closure of most crossing points, and the subsequent desperation of the population amid these dire conditions”.
Many of the those who are looting are young Palestinians who are trying to get food for their families, their parents and other people suffering in the absence of food.
On 10 January, a study was published in the medical journal the Lancet which estimates that the death toll, which people refer to as 47,000, is higher than that: between 55,298 and 78,525. They have split it in the middle, with a best estimate of 64,420.
Finally, I have just read a book by Omar El Akkad called One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. Each generation looks back in judgment at the moral blind spots of earlier generations, and it will happen on this subject too. One day, we will be ashamed of ourselves for our passivity and hypocrisy concerning what has been happening in Gaza. This silence has to be broken.
Lord Polak (Con)
My Lords, I declare my interests as in the register. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, for securing the debate. I was honoured to serve on the justice committee that she chaired. I agree with her on most things—the treatment of the Uighurs, for example—but on this issue, it is different.
I could not be more delighted, as the noble Baroness was, at the prospect of seeing Emily Damari and all the other hostages released, but I remind noble Lords that Israel is not negotiating with the UK, nor with the UAE. It is having to make an agreement with a terrorist group, Hamas, which chillingly vowed yesterday to repeat 7 October. We will no doubt hear in the next hour distorted figures and distorted so-called facts provided by the Hamas propaganda machine. But let us be clear: Hamas is a terrorist group with scant regard for the welfare of the Palestinian people.
Do not take my words, take the words of Fatah’s statement of 11 January condemning Hamas for gambling with the interests and resources of the Palestinian people to the benefit of the Iranian regime, and holding Hamas responsible for the destruction of Gaza, in particular concerning the protection and healthcare of the population.
I have three questions for the Minister. Will she confirm that, according to HMG, Hamas will have no role whatever in the reconstruction of Gaza? We are likely also to hear today, by the way, about how Israel systematically dismantled the healthcare system in Gaza, and very little about Hamas using hospitals as command centres and ammunition stores, so will the Minister please confirm to the House that Israel has provided 13 working field hospitals in Gaza, in co-operation with international partners, since the beginning of the conflict? Finally, will she confirm to the House that 3,259 sick and wounded civilians and their escorts have been evacuated from Gaza? Israel cares, Hamas does not.
Baroness Northover (LD)
My Lords, it is hugely welcome that we finally seem to have a peace deal, and we must hope that this holds, but we must not look away now. There are lessons to be learned and only a sustained focus can give any hope of there not being similar conflicts in the future. Although this debate focuses on healthcare in Gaza, it is in essence about rights and responsibilities. As the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, has rightly laid out, under international law, civilians and medical staff must be protected, yet we hear that in Gaza, hospitals have been attacked, with patients killed, equipment destroyed and services lost. Numerous doctors and other medical staff have been killed.
The WHO has said that Israeli forces have conducted a
“systematic dismantling of the health system”
in northern Gaza. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has described a “pattern of attacks” that begin with Israeli air strikes and are followed by ground raids and the detention of patients and staff,
“leaving the hospital essentially non-functional”.
Israel has maintained that Hamas has been operating from these health facilities, but the UN high commissioner states that Israel
“has not provided sufficient information to substantiate many of these claims”
and has called for independent investigations. Why have these not been allowed? Why are journalists not allowed access?
It is in the interests of everyone—Israelis, Palestinians, the wider region and globally—for this appalling situation to end. A political resolution, with a two-state solution, is long overdue. International law must be respected without fear or favour.
Lord Pannick (CB)
My Lords, we all lament the tragedy of Gaza, the deaths, the devastation and, in particular, as this Motion reminds us, the damage to the healthcare system, but much of that tragedy is the inevitable consequence of a war, a war which Hamas was responsible for starting. It is a war that Hamas has continued, by threatening to repeat 7 October if it could do so, and by detaining Israeli and foreign hostages in conditions of unspeakable cruelty for 468 days and counting. We all hope that the agreement announced in the last couple of days will end that detention very soon and resolve the situation.
Hamas bears a particular responsibility for the damage to the healthcare system of Gaza. It is the consequence of Hamas’s policy of using civilian structures such as hospitals as bases for its weapons and its soldiers. I say very politely to my friend, the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, that I find it quite extraordinary that she can speak, eloquently, on this subject for eight or nine minutes and make only one brief, indirect reference to Hamas. I say to her and to the House that the best way
“to support the healthcare system in Gaza”,
which is the subject of this debate, is for this country and all civilised countries to do all that we can to ensure that Hamas is deprived of power and deprived of weapons. That is in the interest not only of Israel and the world but of the people of Gaza.
Lord Turnberg (Lab)
My Lords, news of a potential ceasefire would indeed be a great relief for both sides, though we will now be going into a sort of truth and reconciliation phase in which blame will be laid on one or other party, and we will see Hamas’s very successful propaganda laid out for the BBC and others to swallow without question.
I want to head off some of that with a few facts. When we hear talk of hospitals being destroyed, I remind noble Lords that Israel built 13 field hospitals in Gaza to treat the Palestinians. It has sent hundreds of Gazan patients not only to Israel’s hospitals but to hospitals in other countries and managed the polio vaccination programme for all the children in Gaza. That seem to have slipped by the BBC’s balanced reporting.
Israel evacuated the patients of Kamal Adwan hospital, but it was not the patients or staff who were killing Israeli soldiers nearby—nine last weekend alone. It was Hamas terrorists who were shooting from tunnels under the hospital—tunnels to which Hamas has always denied access to its own people. Remember that, while Israel builds shelters for its population, Hamas builds huge tunnels for itself to which it denies access to its women and children so that it can cynically use them in the front line of its battles. This is where Hamas stores the food and medicines delivered from Israel that it purloins and sells at exorbitant prices to its deprived citizens.
There has been some talk of the role of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Adwan hospital. Israel now seems to have evidence that not only is he a key member of Hamas, he may even have taken part in the 7 October terrorist attack. It is little wonder that Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are turning against Hamas as they understand what horrific results Hamas has inflicted on them.
Baroness Helic (Con)
My Lords, a recent report by Save the Children reveals that at least 14,100 children have been killed. Gaza now has the largest cohort of child amputees in modern history. Additionally, at least 17,000 children—approximately 3% of Gaza’s population —have been orphaned.
For the last year, I have consistently supported Project Pure Hope, which, since November, has been trying to extend UK medical assistance to severely injured children in this country, at no cost to taxpayers, for a limited time and in limited numbers. So far, it has failed, and I have failed too. It has recently reached out again to the Cabinet Office but has not received a response. Can the Minister assure me that these initiatives will be considered?
There is a lot of passion and controversy about this issue. Can the Minister tell us whether international journalists will finally be allowed into Gaza so that they can bear witness to 13 hospitals, to the citizens of Gaza who have been cared for in hospitals on Israeli territory and so that we can finally get what could be considered an objective view of what exactly has been happening on the ground and the results of those actions?
I will use my last 20 seconds to ask the Minister to update us on the status of UNRWA and the UK Government’s current position on UNRWA being kept out.
Baroness Janke (LD)
My Lords, I too welcome the prospect of a ceasefire, but the catastrophe of Gaza needs far more than a respite. We have heard about attacks on hospitals. There are no functioning hospitals in northern Gaza because of the bombardments which have removed not just healthcare but staff. Some 500 healthcare staff and 200 aid workers have been killed. We should pay tribute to the courage of these people, many of whom are volunteers. It is they who are providing the reports of what is going on in Gaza which are being refuted by others in this Chamber. I would ask those noble Lords to read the testimony of some of the people who actually work there.
Does the Minister feel that the Government have done enough to protect healthcare in Gaza, in light of the systematic attempts to destroy it? Aid is almost non-existent for Palestinians: 160 attempts to reach civilians in north Gaza by the UN resulted in virtually zero success. So far this year, eight babies have frozen to death in Gaza, largely as a result of denial of fuel, shelter and medical care.
Any lasting peace will depend on justice and accountability, so will the UK Government commit to pursuing those responsible for war crimes and ensuring that they are held fully accountable? The people of Gaza were already deprived, crowded and oppressed. They have lost everything in this latest catastrophe. Will the UK take a lead and insist on immediate access to aid and medical care for the dispossessed and displaced people of Gaza and will the Government play a full part in rebuilding a future for Gaza based on justice, accountability and guaranteed human rights?
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)
My Lords, I begin by acknowledging the year of agony for the hostages held by Hamas and their families and friends. I regret that the International Committee of the Red Cross has not been able to check on their welfare and I express the hope, as we hold this debate at a point of continuing uncertainty, that both sides will use its offer to facilitate the return of the hostages and the release of Palestinian prisoners as expeditiously and kindly as possible.
I sincerely thank the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, for securing this debate on the specific point of the healthcare system in Gaza, but I must start by reflecting on what is happening now. These are hopefully final tragedies, but all the more heart-wrenching for family and friends. Overnight and today, reports suggest that at least 70 more people have been killed in Gaza, adding to a death toll of more than 46,000. Very many of them were children and the majority were clearly non-combatants. It is an awful blight on the whole world. Two million people have for 15 months endured a level of horror and inhumanity that should haunt us for ever: multifamily homes and whole blocks, streets, hospitals and schools obliterated to a pile of concrete, all too often with fragile human bodies entombed. Will the Government co-operate fully with the International Criminal Court in pursuit of justice against all those who have committed war crimes? What will they do to ensure the restoration of the medical facilities that are so desperately needed?
The Green Party has been calling for a ceasefire since October 2023. While the apparent agreement offers hope, it must mark the beginning of addressing the root causes of the conflict. The ongoing occupation, the siege of Gaza and the systematic violation of Palestinian human rights cannot continue. The UK Government must formally recognise the state of Palestine —a vital step towards justice, equality and a sustainable peace. It is also a demonstration of commitment to international law and a balanced approach to the region, which must include a full suspension of all arms exports to the Israeli military.
Baroness Gohir (CB)
My Lords, I welcome the fragile agreed ceasefire, although it was too late for those hostages who could have been saved and the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed and starved. Multiple generations of families have been wiped out. The death and destruction cannot carry on. What role is the UK playing to ensure the ceasefire is permanent?
The surviving Palestinians now face a critical threat. The healthcare system in Gaza has been decimated, leaving Palestinians without access to life-saving treatment, which could result in a doubling of deaths. The injured cannot be treated. There is the spread of disease. Newborns are dying. Pregnant women are having miscarriages and being denied safe birth. One overlooked tool of genocide is preventing births, which we are witnessing.
Hospital buildings have been destroyed and patients and healthcare staff killed, and medical staff have been imprisoned. All of this is in breach of international law. Why has Israel been allowed to violate international law repeatedly and with impunity, through actions which have undeniably contributed to the elimination and expulsion of Palestinians? Will the UK join efforts to hold Israel accountable for its repeated violations of international law and for the collective punishment of Palestinians?
I finish by commenting on the Prime Minister’s statement about the ceasefire. Language matters. He rightly described the deaths of innocent Israelis as brutal and “a massacre”, but then simply described the deaths of Palestinians by saying that “they lost their lives”. Palestinians, too, were brutally massacred. Given the atrocities we have witnessed, why did the Prime Minister downplay the suffering of Palestinians and show double standards in humanity?
Baroness Blackstone (Lab)
My Lords, the horrific effects of the Israeli Government’s callous treatment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza have been set out by the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, so I will not repeat them, but I do want to point to the long-term effects on children. They may escape death, but many are maimed, seriously malnourished, have been denied education because so many schools have been destroyed, and have lost close family members. They are traumatised and they will be left with permanent scars, meaning that their mental and physical health will require long-term treatment for many years. I also want to mention that the sexual and reproductive health of younger women has been shattered by the systematic destruction of primary care centres as well as hospitals. Miscarriages have trebled, as have maternal deaths. Women are giving birth with no medical assistance, no anaesthetic and no access to clean water or power. Moreover, their babies are dying because of a lack of neonatal care.
I salute the Government for welcoming the ceasefire and for calling for the entry of far more development aid to Gaza, but can I press the Minister on what the Government are doing to push for a permanent ceasefire so that medical facilities can be re-established for the long term? Will they hold Israel to account for its failures under international law in annihilating the health sector in Gaza? And what are they doing to ensure that UNRWA can remain in place to carry on its vital work in delivering humanitarian aid? Does she agree that UNRWA’s experience and expertise are indispensable in this area to allocate food, fuel, water, medicines and medical equipment, without which the health of Gazans will continue to deteriorate? Finally, will the Government commit to a leading role in restoring the Gazan infrastructure to allow its people the chance of a semblance of normal life, including proper healthcare?
Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)
My Lords, I, too, congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, on securing this debate and on her excellent introduction. I declare an interest as president of Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine. I join others in expressing relief at the proposed fragile ceasefire, while lamenting why it took so long, and mourning the many thousands, including Israeli hostages, who tragically did not live to see it. We hope and pray that this ceasefire holds.
It has been reported that over 1,000 doctors, nurses and medical personnel have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza over the past 15 months. The situation, as has been outlined by others, is catastrophic and I do not need to repeat some of the facts and figures that we have read repeatedly. Israeli forces arrested Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the last major hospital operating in north Gaza—the Kamal Adwan. He was among more than 240 people arrested and the IDF has accused him and all his staff members of being Hamas terrorists. We understand that he has been denied legal representation since then until 22 January, and these allegations are not proven, as others have tried to say.
MSF reports that every medical centre and humanitarian delivery system has long been destroyed and been replaced by unacceptable improvised provisions. There is no telling what the indirect human cost will be in deaths and long-term injuries as a result of the denial of aid and treatment. We have heard that the International Development Select Committee heard harrowing and chilling evidence from NHS doctors trained in this country who were over there. Can the Minister say what role the United Kingdom will take in helping to rebuild healthcare services and in asking for justice and more transparency for the doctors and medical staff who are being held without charge and without legal representation?
Baroness Altmann (Non-Afl)
My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. I have huge respect for the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, and I thank her for calling this debate. My heart goes out to all those suffering—Palestinians and Israelis—following the Hamas massacre. Hamas cynically exploits hospitals and healthcare, inviting attack by firing on Israel from those facilities. Hamas has turned hospitals into terror command centres. It has used them to hide hostages and terrorists. Hamas terrorists themselves go round disguised as women, even holding children. They are deliberately disguising themselves as patients and doctors and travelling in ambulances. They are callously putting ordinary Palestinians in harm’s way.
The protections for hospitals and healthcare are not unconditional, but the Palestinian Hamas terrorists cynically exploit international sympathy. I join in sympathy for those impacted. Article 8.2 of the Rome statute prohibits intentionally directing attacks against hospitals, provided they are not military objectives—but they have become so.
The December actions at Kamal Adwan Hospital found large terrorist operations there. Some 240 Hamas, PIJ and other operatives were caught, and 19 terrorists were killed. Even then, many tried to pose as patients and flee. This is the same in other hospitals that Israel has attacked, and it has set up its own. Notwithstanding all of this, Israel has provided fuel and medical supplies. It has even run a vaccination campaign for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hep B and polio—hardly genocidal intent.
I pray for peace, and I pray for a relief for the Palestinians and Israelis.
Lord Shinkwin (Con)
My Lords, I spent much of my childhood in a hospital bed. I did not know then that most of my surgeon’s family had been murdered at Auschwitz. But I am sure that, were he alive today, he would be as horrified as I am by the tragedy that has befallen the people of Israel and of Gaza since Hamas’s barbaric and depraved invasion from unoccupied Gaza in 2023.
Of course, the international community must do everything it can to help rebuild the hospitals in Gaza, whose sacrosanct position has been consistently violated, as we have already heard, by Hamas in defiance of international law. For it is their cynical cowardice, in turning hospitals into terror command centres, that has put patients, their families and medical personnel in harm’s way.
So, to support the healthcare system of Gaza must mean protecting it from Hamas. Never again can Hamas be allowed to perpetrate such crimes against the Palestinian people. I ask the Minister to confirm that His Majesty’s Government will prioritise ensuring Hamas respects and upholds international law, because unless and until that happens, no amount of support from us will remove the threat posed by Hamas to the security and viability of the Gaza healthcare system and, ultimately, to its people.
Lord Oates (LD)
My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register.
We awoke with news that gave hope that, 15 months after the monstrous Hamas attacks of 7 October, a ceasefire would bring the Israeli hostages home and end the devastating slaughter of innocent Palestinian civilians. This afternoon, we hear reports that Israel continues with airstrikes on Gaza and is backing away from the agreement, reportedly due to the intransigence of extremist Israeli Ministers, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. During this time, Palestinian health services have been attacked and largely destroyed and health service workers indiscriminately killed or seized by the IDF.
In light of these attacks, will the Minister restate that obligations under international humanitarian law to protect hospitals and health workers are unconditional? Will she tell the House what representations the Government have made to Israel regarding the recent IDF attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital and the treatment of healthcare workers who are being detained by Israel?
The destruction of medical facilities is putting at further risk the lives of tens of thousands of children facing acute malnutrition in Gaza and who are unable to get access to medical care. I hope the Minister will once again urge all parties to ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian aid, both into and within Gaza. We must all hope that an enduring ceasefire will be established in the coming hours and that the unconscionable disregard of both Hamas and Israel for innocent Palestinian lives will come to an end.
Israel is not only losing many of its friends over the devastation it has wreaked in Gaza; far worse, it is in danger of losing its soul.
Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)
My Lords, the families and friends of the hostages deserve their loved ones home, and the catastrophic humanitarian crisis inflicted on the Palestinian civilians needs to end. Therefore, the ceasefire must hold, and we all hope that it does, but the hours, days and weeks ahead will be tense, and there will be major uncertainty, because it is not a peace and governance agreement but merely a ceasefire. The conditions must be in place where we can hope that it leads to that, but it could have come to an end a lot sooner, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Helic and Lady Blackstone, were right.
UNICEF’s figures are 14,500 child deaths, 17,000 unaccompanied children with no foster care and 1 million displaced children. In context, that is the equivalent of the entire under-10 population of London now displaced, that now needs to be educated and homed. Of course, as we heard, even with this agreement there continues to be outpost and settler violence in the West Bank.
None of this was inevitable, but the task ahead is enormous. In the region, an unprecedented level of rubble clearance is required, as is corpse identification and certification, the restoration of health services, trusted law and order, judicial services and water and electricity services, and emergency shelter put in place.
I can only reiterate my appeal to the Minister from earlier this week that the UK can play a very significant role in the restoration of education services with pop-up provision, and we can perhaps start the process of moving away from recrimination. That may lead to recognition of the state of Palestine—two states—and long-term sustainable peace. Let us not lose all hope.
Lord Callanan (Con)
My Lords, I join others in hoping—the latest news seems to be positive—that the ceasefire is back on and that it will hold, although I fear it may be only temporary if Hamas is allowed to continue playing any kind of role in Gaza, dedicated as it is to the destruction of the state of Israel.
There is substantial evidence that Hamas has fought from within hospitals throughout the war, periodically hiding some of the hostages it has held since 7 October 2023 inside them and using the people of Gaza as human shields. There is video evidence to demonstrate that.
We must also acknowledge the measures taken by Israel to facilitate the flow of aid into Gaza. Despite the security challenges, Israel has worked to establish humanitarian corridors and to co-ordinate with international actors to allow the delivery of vital supplies. It is crucial in this debate to recognise these efforts, as in my view they demonstrate Israel’s willingness to balance its legitimate security concerns with its obligations under international humanitarian law.
It is essential to differentiate between the legitimate self-defence actions of a democratic state, Israel, and the actions of what is essentially a terrorist group that seeks to undermine peace and stability in the region. Hamas bears total responsibility for the suffering in Gaza, not only through its attacks on Israel but through its previous governance failures and misappropriation of the considerable resources delivered over many years by the international community that were meant to help civilians.
This Government took the decision to help resume funding to UNRWA after the previous Government had suspended it. UNRWA had to fire nine staff after investigations into their involvement in the appalling attack on Israel in October 2023. We are clear that all links to the Hamas terrorist group must be severed if there is to be a sustainable peace in Gaza.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for securing this debate and to noble Lords who have contributed. I know this House will join me in welcoming the news overnight of major progress on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. This provides hope and the prospect of an improvement in the dire situation in Gaza. I pay tribute to those who have worked so hard to bring this about, including the negotiating teams from the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
At the same time, we recognise that for the hostages and their families, the suffering continues. We especially think of British citizen Emily Damari, and of Eli and Yossi Sharabi, Oded Lifshitz, and Avinatan Or, who have strong links to the UK, and their loved ones, who have shown so much courage and commitment to bringing them home. We stand with Gazan civilians as they await more information about what this deal will mean. They need to be able to start rebuilding their lives and livelihoods as soon as possible. Winter has come to Gaza, and after 15 months of conflict Gazans are in a desperate situation. The legacy of conflict will take time to address fully. Nearly 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes, and the whole population of Gaza, not least the children and the most vulnerable in society, bear the scars of the conflict, both physically and psychologically.
Since the appalling Hamas attacks of 7 October, hospitals and other healthcare facilities make up much of the vital infrastructure that has been destroyed in Gaza. What is needed immediately is a rapid surge in aid reaching Gaza and an effective security context for this to be delivered. We need to see commercial deliveries fully reinstated and medical supplies allowed. We must also see more medical evacuation routes opened and the urgent facilitation of new and sustainable healthcare provision. Reports that more than 1,000 medical staff in Gaza have been killed, injured or detained during the conflict only underline the scale of the problem. The impact on Gaza’s people has been devastating. They have been unable to safely access the healthcare they desperately need; child malnutrition has rocketed and the whole population has faced the risk of famine for some time now. Infectious diseases have spread, and babies have died for lack of warmth.
Throughout the conflict we have pressed all sides to meet their obligations with regard to healthcare in Gaza. The noble Baroness, Lady Helic, asked about UNRWA. In our view, UNRWA is the best way forward to get aid, and it should be allowed to continue. Last month, the Prime Minister committed an additional £30 million to UNRWA, which will support vital services including medical care. We have now committed £41 million of UK funding to UNRWA this financial year to support its work in Gaza and the wider region. As the ceasefire begins to be implemented, it is essential that UNRWA is enabled to carry out its vital mission in Gaza and beyond.
Through our wider funding to the Occupied Territories, we have supported UK-Med’s operation of field hospitals and other healthcare services. UK-Med has provided vital care to over 300,000 Gazans since the start of the conflict. We have also provided £1 million of funding to the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population, delivered through the WHO in Egypt, to support Palestinians who have been medically evacuated from Gaza.
Given the distressing plight of the sick and injured, we continue to look for opportunities to alleviate the suffering, particularly of those in need of specialised treatment and urgent care. Officials across government are examining all options to ensure we are doing everything in our power to help and to explore all avenues in order to support the critically ill in Gaza. It remains essential that all parties work urgently to establish safe passage for patients who need treatment that is not available in Gaza. We have to take the opportunity of the ceasefire to further enable this. It is true that Israel has provided field hospitals; I am happy to confirm that. But we must acknowledge that the humanitarian situation we see today tells us that this has not been enough. Journalists should be able to operate freely and safely in Gaza, and we hope that that can be brought about soon.
In closing, I reiterate that what we urgently need now is for the implementation of the ceasefire announced last night, long overdue though it is, to bring swift and significant relief to the people of Gaza. We need to see a rapid increase in the amount of aid reaching Gaza and immediate action to restore civilian infrastructure, including access to healthcare. Reconstruction should be Palestinian led, but Hamas should play no part in this. We stand ready to play our part in reconstruction and psychosocial support. I suspect that this House, like the wider world, will never agree on the balance of responsibility and blame for the deaths of tens of thousands of children, women and men. But what we can support, and we surely all have a duty to support, is that negotiation, dialogue, humanitarian aid, a ceasefire and the release of all hostages, today, is the only way forward.