Palestine Statehood (Recognition) Bill [HL]

Baroness Chapman of Darlington Excerpts

Friday 14th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, for presenting this Bill and thank all noble Lords who have contributed to today’s debate. It was good to meet the noble Baroness to discuss her Bill in advance of this debate. I thank her for her time. As the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, said, Private Members’ Bills provide an important and helpful opportunity to debate these important issues. Before I address the Bill directly, I will speak to some of the issues around the ceasefire, Gaza and the West Bank today.

The current agreement to end the fighting in Gaza is a moment of opportunity after more than a year of agony. We must thank Qatar, Egypt and the US for their tireless mediation efforts and take comfort that British citizen Emily Damari and UK-linked Eli Sharabi have been freed after their horrific ordeal at the hands of Hamas, and that the body of UK-linked Oded Lifshitz has been returned to his family.

The ceasefire remains fragile. We need all parties to sustain the ceasefire and deliver the agreement in full, with the release of all hostages, and move it through the phases and into a lasting peace. The ceasefire agreement is just the first step in ensuring long-term peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians and the wider region. Long-term stability will require a political process and a political horizon towards a two-state solution. Only that, over time, will ensure the long-term peace and security of both Palestinians and Israelis.

Even with the welcome ceasefire, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains desperate. We are gravely concerned by recent Israeli restrictions on aid and electricity supplies entering Gaza. Aid should not be used as a political tool, and we urge Israel to lift restrictions immediately to ensure that the supply of humanitarian assistance and access to essential services in Gaza continue. The Foreign Secretary made this clear to Israel’s Foreign Minister during their call on 5 March. Israel must work closely with the UN and all partners to facilitate a surge in aid, including reinstating commercial deliveries and allowing more types of goods into Gaza to support health and shelter needs and the resumption of basic services.

We have been clear that Gazans must now be allowed to return to their homes and rebuild. We do not support any forcible removal of people from or within Gaza or the West Bank, or any reduction in the territory of the OPTs.

The Foreign Secretary, along with the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and Italy, has welcomed the Arab initiative of a recovery and reconstruction plan for Gaza. It shows a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and improvement of the catastrophic living conditions for Palestinians living there. These plans must be based on a solid political and security framework that is acceptable to, and provides long-term peace and security for, both Israelis and Palestinians. We are committed to working with the Arab initiative, the Palestinians and Israel to develop these plans, including on security and governance.

Our funding for the Occupied Palestinian Territories this financial year has included a £2 million uplift through a contribution to the World Bank to deliver water and energy infrastructure across the OPTs. This will support early recovery efforts. We are funding two roles within the Palestinian Authority’s recovery, reconstruction and development team, strengthening the PA’s capacity to plan for the next phase in Gaza.

On the West Bank, we have made clear our serious concern at recent Israeli military activity. Israel must show restraint, ensure that the scale of its operations is proportionate to the threat posed and minimise the loss of civilian lives and property. Stability and security are essential at this time. Settlement expansion has reached record levels in the last 12 months. The Israeli Government seized more of the West Bank in 2024 than in the previous 20 years. We are clear that settlements are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and threaten the viability of a two-state solution.

In October last year, we sanctioned three outposts and four entities that have supported and sponsored violence against communities in the West Bank. We will look at all options to take tougher action. The Prime Minister has been clear with Prime Minister Netanyahu that the Israeli Government must take greater action to hold violent settlers to account and to clamp down on those who seek to inflame tensions.

I turn now to the issue of recognition. As many noble Lords have pointed out, Palestinian statehood is the right of the Palestinian people. It is not the gift of any neighbour, and it is vital that the people of the West Bank and Gaza are given the political perspective of a credible route to a Palestinian state and a new future. This needs to be irreversible. That is why this Government unequivocally support a two-state solution that guarantees security and stability for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people. That is why our long-standing position is that we will recognise a Palestinian state at a time that is most conducive to the peace process. I note the route suggested by the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, and I thank him for his constructive approach. I am not, as he would expect, in a position to endorse his idea, but I thank him for making that suggestion.

However, my noble friends and I do not support this Bill today. This is not because we do not support the goal—as many have said, this Government strongly support recognition of the state of Palestine—but because imposing a timetable on this decision would hinder our ability to achieve the goal of a sustainable two-state solution, as my noble friend Lord Katz said. We must take this step when the time is right. Meanwhile, we will work tirelessly alongside our international partners to support a process towards sustainable peace.

This financial year, the UK has provided £129 million to help alleviate the suffering, including £41 million for UNRWA, which is supporting the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Palestinian refugees in the region. UK support has meant that more 500,000 people have received essential healthcare; 647,000 people have received food; and 284,000 people have improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene services. We are working with partners to support the surge in humanitarian aid to Gaza that is needed now.

It is in the long-term interests of both Israelis and Palestinians that this ceasefire holds and progresses through each of its phases, and that both sides take this opportunity to begin the process of rebuilding a pathway to peace and stability. Peace will be sustainable only if both sides recommit to a renewed peace process resulting in a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state. This Government are committed to doing all we can both to support this and to recognise a Palestinian state, which we will do not at the end of a process, as some have suggested, but at the point at which recognition by the United Kingdom would have the greatest effect in bringing about the peace and stability that every speaker this afternoon wishes so dearly to see.