Oral Answers to Questions Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Andrea Jenkyns
Main Page: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)Department Debates - View all Andrea Jenkyns's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(5 years, 11 months ago)
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Alistair Burt
Israel, as a democracy in the middle east, has always prided itself on ensuring that those groups have the freedom to operate there, even if they challenge the Israeli Government. It is very important to the United Kingdom that that tradition is maintained, particularly at a time of crisis. The west bank needs those who are able to interpret the situation and speak honestly, both to the Palestinian Authority and to the state of Israel, and the more political space there is to do that, the better it will be all round for the prospects of peace.
Andrea Jenkyns (Morley and Outwood) (Con)
What assessment has the Minister made of the effect of the tunnel construction into Israel by Hamas?
Alistair Burt
The recent discovery of tunnels from Lebanon into Israel has caused much concern. It is important that they are dealt with on both sides of the border. There is no reason for that work to continue, either by Hamas in the south in Gaza or by Hezbollah in the north in Lebanon.