Debbie Abrahams
Main Page: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)Department Debates - View all Debbie Abrahams's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(10 years, 4 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Hague
My hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) spoke about the polarising aspects of this issue and there are passionate feelings about this and about what is happening to people in Gaza. As I said earlier, we must also remember that many hundreds of rockets have been launched indiscriminately against people living in Israel, and rather than refining our value judgments each day, are concentrating on bringing about an agreed ceasefire and urging all sides to abide by international humanitarian law. I think that that is the right thing to continue to do.
Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)
Mona El-Farra, a doctor working on the Gaza strip, has described in graphic detail the pain and damage caused to civilians in this collective punishment of Palestinian people. I agree with Members on both sides of the House that in the long term we need to tackle the underlying issues with blockades, access to justice and the settlements, but in the short term, what additional pressure can we place on the Israeli Government—particularly as regards the disproportionate and indiscriminate action that they are taking on the people of Gaza—and on Hamas? Will the Foreign Secretary reassure all Members of the House that the tone of today’s statement and the comments being made are being conveyed to them?
Mr Hague
Absolutely, and the tone that I have taken today, which I think, judging by the reaction, is shared widely across the House, is exactly the tone of our discussions with Palestinian and Israeli leaders and with others in the region over the past few days. The pressure really takes that form of trying to find the formula for the ceasefire, which other nations are involved in and which we have supported at the UN Security Council—it is diplomatic pressure that is most likely to succeed and has succeeded previously—and then we have to resume the search, as the hon. Lady rightly says, to resolve the underlying causes of the conflict.