Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Baroness Janke Excerpts

Monday 9th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

The noble Lord is absolutely right about the people of Israel. I am very careful to draw a clear distinction between the people of Israel and the current Government of Israel. It is the current Government of Israel who are pursuing this awful policy in relation to Gaza. The noble Lord is also absolutely right to draw attention to a range of options in terms of the peace discussions. That is why the initiative by France and Saudi Arabia is really important—because it can convene people. We talked in the earlier Question about the convening power of the United Nations, which is vital. I do not think that we can take an exclusive approach to the peace process; it has to be as inclusive as possible, but we are determined to support the reforms within the Palestinian Authority, to strengthen their work and to strengthen their credibility among the Palestinian people.

On the noble Lord’s question about aid, he knows that if we could have airlifts, we would explore every such mechanism to get aid in. But as he repeatedly assured me when I was in opposition and he was the Minister, there is only one real, successful way to get the amount of aid that is needed into Gaza, and that is through the road routes. We are determined to ensure that that is the case.

[Baroness Janke (LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Singh of Wimbledon (CB)]

My Lords—

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[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I say to the right reverend Prelate that I have been clear about when we will recognise the state of Palestine, and that is when it is most conducive to that two-state solution. We will work with allies to ensure that we can create those conditions. The conference is part of that, but not the sole part. He is absolutely right to condemn the actions in Gaza and the Occupied Territories in terms of the use of violence; I think we can all be very concerned.

It is frustrating if it appears that we are not doing anything. We are absolutely determined to work with our allies so that the Government of Israel fully understand our concerns. Of course, we voted on 4 June in favour of the UN Security Council resolution focused on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. We highlighted that the Israeli Government’s decisions to expand its military operations in Gaza and severely restrict aid are totally unjustifiable, disproportionate and counterproductive. With our allies, we have called for an end to restrictions on aid. We believe that UN and other humanitarian partners must be allowed to operate, and we must be able to get back to a situation where we can get aid to where it is most needed.

On 19 May, we released a joint statement with Canada and France calling for Israel to cease its renewed military offensive and lift restrictions, so we are using what mechanisms we can. We are also using specific actions bilaterally against the Government of Israel. The initial one was the restriction of arms sales; another concerned the trade agreement. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that we work with our allies to make sure that the Government of Israel know our deep concern about this situation.

[Baroness Janke (LD)]

My Lords, what is the Government’s response to reports claiming that thousands of items listed under the category “bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions of war” were exported from the UK to Israel, as well as four shipments described under customs codes as “tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles”? They were all reportedly delivered after the Government suspended licences for equipment that could be used offensively in Gaza in September. Will the Government take firm action to ensure that weapons from the UK are not being used to commit war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank and Occupied Territories?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I absolutely reassure the noble Baroness that the UK is not arming Israel’s war in Gaza. We can categorically say we do not export any bombs or ammunition for use in military operations in Gaza. As I have repeatedly said, one of the first acts of this Government was to review and suspend export licences for weapons that could be used by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza. We have successfully implemented that suspension and continue to refuse all relevant licence applications.

I have also seen the press reports; we do not recognise the suggestion that arms exports from the UK to Israel increased following 7 October 2023, which covers a period under the last Government. The Government took decisive action in initiating a review of international humanitarian law on that day, so I can categorically say that we are not exporting bombs or ammunition for use in military operations.