Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the comments made by UNRWA's former general counsel James Lindsay to the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs on 17 May.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the threats made by Brigadier General Esmail Qaani of the Iranian Quds Force to the UK on 16 May.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the operational capability of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UN’s revision of its casualty statistics relating to the Israel-Hamas war on 8 May.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the removal of tax-free shopping for international visitors, what steps they are taking to support affected small and medium-sized enterprises in regional economies; and what assessment they have made of the impact on regional economies and their wider supply chains.

Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likelihood of Iran firing nuclear missiles at Israel; and what are the implications for UK policy of such action.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

We are determined to use all diplomatic options available to ensure that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon. We condemned in the strongest terms Iran's direct attack against Israel on 13 April, which was a dangerous escalation.

The UK will continue to stand up for Israel's security as well as the security of all our regional partners and we are working with our allies to deescalate the situation.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of reported allegations of the widespread abuse of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

After more than 200 days in captivity, 132 hostages remain in Gaza, including British nationals and others with strong UK links. We are extremely concerned about reports regarding the conditions they are being held in.

The implications for the health and psychological well-being of hostages can be catastrophic, as is the impact and lasting trauma on their families and on their communities. We reiterate our call for the ICRC to be granted urgent access to all hostages and for their immediate release. Nothing can justify their continued detention. Their families are showing great courage in horrific circumstances.

Hamas must act on this now. It was wrong to kidnap them on 7 October, it has been wrong to hold them in captivity for so long and it is wrong to hold them any longer. We strongly support the intensive diplomatic efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to secure their release.

Many public services use interpreting and translation services (ITS) for users of public services who would otherwise struggle to interact with them. The aim of this short inquiry will be to focus on procuring interpreting and translation services in the courts, policy recommendations for supporting services providers, and the potential role of technology in enabling interpreting and translation services.