Gaza Healthcare System
Debate between Apsana Begum and Hamish Falconer(2 weeks, 2 days ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Mr Hamish Falconer)
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) for securing the debate. I will not initially take interventions, as there have been many questions asked of me. I will endeavour to make some progress through them before I do.
Before I start my speech, I would like to say that, given the prominent reference that has been made throughout the debate to the work of British doctors and MSF overseas, I should declare that a close family member is one of those doctors working with MSF overseas. For transparency, I want to make that clear.
I would also like to take the opportunity in setting the context—as this is the first opportunity I have had since recess—to make a brief comment about events in the west bank. I want to condemn in the strongest terms the recent Israeli Security Cabinet decisions that have introduced sweeping extensions to Israel’s control over the west bank and accelerated illegal settlement activity. The UK is clear that Israel’s illegal settlements and decisions designed to further them are a flagrant violation of international law. We will take concrete steps in accordance with international law to counter settlement expansion and to challenge policies and threats of forcible displacements and annexation. That is important context for today’s discussion.
I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) about the importance of the inextricable link between Gaza, the west bank and East Jerusalem. The UK has recognised a Palestinian state; all three of those territories are part of that. As my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh) said, it is right to treat the children of Gaza in Palestine when they can be, but there are three major restrictions on their ability to be treated where they live: equipment, supplies and personnel.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward), who referred to her time as an aid worker in Gaza, knows well, there are many talented Palestinian doctors. I was asked about our advocacy on behalf of those doctors. I will not reiterate, having provided an account to the Chamber of our work in that regard. Palestinian doctors alone are not sufficient, given the healthcare demands on Gaza. It is vital that doctors from outside Palestine are able to access Gaza to provide support. They can do so effectively only, first, if the Israelis allow them and, secondly, if they have the hospitals and equipment to provide healthcare. There has been insufficient progress in that regard and we continue to make those points clearly.
Mr Falconer
I will not.
In response to the questions from my hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) about our advocacy on these questions with the Israeli ambassador, I am keen to be grounded in up-to-date facts. Although the Israeli ambassador is no longer in place, having left her post last year, I did, of course, summon her in relation to the Israeli Government’s actions in Gaza. The Israeli Government are currently represented by a chargé to be followed by the appointment of a future ambassador.
I will return to the tangible questions. I am grateful for the recognition from many contributors of the work the Government have done, including the medical evacuation of Gazan children to the UK. I have met some of those children, as I know many others have. It is so moving to see the change to their lives as a result of them and their families being here. They are, of course, a tiny subsection of the children in Gaza who need care and I have already discussed the restrictions on providing that care in Gaza.
It is obviously right, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale said, that, where we cannot provide care in Palestine, care is provided in the region. We have provided that care and I have seen it with my own eyes in Egypt, particularly in the Sinai in al-Arish. There are welcome improvements for Gazans requiring medical assistance to cross into Egypt via the Rafah crossing and be provided with aid, but restrictions remain. My hon. Friend is right to highlight the significant risks for those leaving to seek medical aid elsewhere, fearing that they will not be able to return home. We continue to advocate on those questions.
To respond to the shadow Minister’s questions about the numbers, we have provided £40 million of aid for health. That most recently included a £4 million Disasters Emergency Committee appeal over Christmas. I was very moved by the generosity of the British people to match the Government’s contribution. I am grateful for the continued efforts of many of our constituents across the country and Members here today to raise these issues. We provided £3 million to the WHO to support the Egyptian healthcare system to provide the assistance I just described.
Let me turn to the questions about deregistration. As many Members noted, there is a deadline of 1 March. The shadow Minister sought to provide some clarity about the limited number of NGOs affected, but I would point out that many of them are reputable British organisations. We opposed that legislation when it was first proposed and oppose it now. We need to see a solution to the issue. Many NGOs, including MSF, which has been the subject of a lot of commentary to this morning, have sought to engage with the requests of the Israeli Government. There have been many genuine efforts to engage with the Israeli Government on that question, including by the British Government. It is vital, for all of the reasons that others have put so articulately, that those aid agencies can operate and continue their vital work.
I was asked a range of other questions that went slightly beyond healthcare. When colleagues ask me to make more than statements, I remind them that we have made more than statements: I am the first middle east Minister since the Balfour declaration who can say in this place that we recognise a Palestinian state. I have already described some of the concrete actions taken to truly transform the lives of Gazan children.
Apsana Begum
The Minister mentioned the deadline for the deregistration of NGOs. If that deadline passes and there has not been a change of direction from the Israeli authorities and Government, what concrete steps will the UK Government take?
Gaza and Hamas
Debate between Apsana Begum and Hamish Falconer(4 months, 1 week ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Mr Falconer
We have spoken in this House on a number of occasions about events in the west bank, and we have announced three waves of sanctions—including at the most senior levels—against the Israeli Government. I reassure the House that we remain very focused on settler violence. We are moving into the olive harvesting period, which, as the right hon. Member will know, is a period in which violence is often particularly high. Regrettably, we are seeing similar trends this year. I will have more to say about that later in the day.
In relation to the right hon. Member’s first point on individual incidents, I refer him to my previous comments. It is important, at such a delicate moment for the ceasefire, that we are as precise as possible. That is why the CMCC is engaged in the way that it is.
Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab)
The International Court of Justice has called on Israel to allow aid into Gaza, denounced its occupation of Palestinian territories as unlawful, and demanded the removal of troops. Does the Minister understand that as long as there are boots on the ground and UK arms are still sold to Israel, and unless Palestinians are allowed to determine their fate and be free of the violence that they continue to face, they will not have the peace that they need?
Northern Gaza
Debate between Apsana Begum and Hamish Falconer(1 year, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Falconer
The hon. Member mentioned sanctions, and we put in place extensive sanctions at the end of last year. I will not comment on further sanctions—to do so might undermine their impact—but we keep these issues under close review. I have discussed the recognition of a Palestinian state and arms. I recognise the strength of feeling in the House, I recognise how desperately people in this Chamber and across the world want to see an urgent ceasefire in Gaza, and that is the zeal with which the Foreign Office ministerial team approach this.
Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse) (Ind)
Recently, a surgeon broke down as he told the International Development Committee of drones descending after a bomb strike to shoot children, with wounds that he believed reflected some form of artificial intelligence. I understand that the Government are saying that, since September 2024, UK-made arms are currently suspended where they may be used against civilians. Notwithstanding what exactly that entails—the various details, caveats and definitions—can the Minister confirm and clarify today whether UK-made drones that were exported to Israel before September 2024 are being used to shoot civilians, including children, in the manner described by the surgeon?
Mr Falconer
I am familiar with the testimony of Professor Nizam Mamode, and I saw his videos from when he was in Gaza. He is an impressive surgeon and a friend to many in this Chamber, and his testimony is harrowing. On the drones, I want to be clear that the suspension of arms licences would cover exactly that activity.
Israel-Gaza Conflict: Arrest Warrants
Debate between Apsana Begum and Hamish Falconer(1 year, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Hamish Falconer
The right hon. Member says with dismay that war is ugly. War is ugly and we are doing everything that we can to bring it to a close through all the diplomatic measures we would expect. This is not an issue for grandstanding; this is an issue for diplomacy. That is what the Government are committed to.
Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse) (Ind)
Surely central to the debate today must be the UK’s ongoing political role as Israel’s close ally, and the fact that UK-made weapons, including components, are still being used by Israel. Does the Minister recognise that beyond the commitment to uphold the ICC’s arrest warrants, the UK’s failure to clearly condemn the collective punishment of civilians—an intent explicitly indicated by key Israeli leading figures—and the continued military support for Israel’s ongoing onslaught in Gaza have serious implications for the UK’s own human rights obligations and the fate of millions of innocent men, women and children?
Hamish Falconer
I will not rehearse too much the answers provided on 2 September and on numerous occasions in the Chamber since then. We have suspended, with one exemption—to which I am happy to return—all the arms that we are selling to Israel that could be used in Gaza. That suspension, in our assessment, also covers the west bank and Lebanon. We are taking action in accordance with our commitments under international humanitarian law, and we will continue to do so.
Gaza and Humanitarian Aid
Debate between Apsana Begum and Hamish Falconer(1 year, 5 months ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Hamish Falconer
I was coming to that issue, but I will take it now.
I am very familiar with these issues; in fact, as an official in 2014, I was working with the mass atrocity prevention hub, where I know my colleagues have also served, to try to identify children at that time and in that stage of the war. It is incredibly depressing to be in this Chamber 10 years on talking about injured children in Gaza again. At that time, I was tasked with trying to find children who could benefit from UK medical assistance, and I was honestly not able to find children who would not be better served in the region. Having discussed the matter with officials—I understand the Minister for Development has looked at this as well—we primarily share the view expressed in WHO guidance that children should be treated in the region as much as possible. That will mean in most cases that being treated in Egypt or somewhere nearby is going to be more appropriate than being treated in the UK. However, I will go back to the Department and secure a fuller answer.
I want to return briefly to the mandate of the UN. We are clear that Israel must respect the mandate of the UN and must enable humanitarian workers to travel easily into and throughout Gaza.
Apsana Begum
It is absolutely clear that aid and aid workers are being hindered and blocked by Israel. At the same time, the UK considers Israel to be one of its closest allies. How does that make sense in terms of how the UK represents itself at the UN and on the world platform? The Minister seems to be suggesting that efforts are being made to secure a ceasefire to provide aid, when it is obvious that there is a block and that the UK is facilitating that, as opposed to opposing it.
Hamish Falconer
I do not accept that we are facilitating rather than opposing. I could not be clearer in everything I have said this afternoon about the position of the British Government. I have been clear with my colleagues about our frustration that we have not been able to make more progress on the things that we have been calling for. I want to reassure colleagues across the House that the whole ministerial team is working hard day and night on these issues. We recognise the acute nature of the situation before us, and we treat it with the full gravity that it deserves.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Apsana Begum and Hamish Falconer(1 year, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Hamish Falconer
I thank the right hon. Member for his question. This is an extremely complex finding, covering 90 pages. It was issued after considerable deliberation by the ICJ, and there is a variety of views from the judges. As we said at the time, it will take us some time to respond to the full judgment. We will update the House when we are in a position to do so. In the meantime, sanctions will remain under review, as I mentioned in the previous answer.
Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse) (Ind)