Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Clive Efford Excerpts

Tuesday 14th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

I would not necessarily trust the figures that are produced by Hamas, but we do know that an extraordinary number of people have lost their lives, and we are all trying to do everything we can to make sure that we bring this situation to a conclusion as rapidly as possible.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

Before we talk about humanitarian pauses, should we not agree first what we want to achieve by them? Would they not need to be for days or weeks, not just for four hours? We need to repair infrastructure and get aid in on a scale that is just not possible while hostilities continue. Do the Government not need to call for an immediate cessation of hostilities—a ceasefire—during the period that is agreed, to get humanitarian aid in at the volume that is required?

[Mr Mitchell]

It is not just a question of using the pauses to try to advance humanitarian good; it is also about trying to use the humanitarian pauses to achieve some of the things the hon. Member said. As I said earlier, we have to be incredibly careful that we do not end up creating a false sense of security, as the House will remember happened in Srebrenica, northern Iraq and Rwanda.