Oral Answers to Questions

Hamish Falconer Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mary Glindon (Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend) (Lab)]

22. What steps he is taking to help improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Mr Hamish Falconer)]

In response to the deepening crisis, the Foreign Secretary yesterday announced a further £15 million of aid and medical care for Gaza and the region, taking our total funding to £75 million this year. We are working to get children with the most acute needs out of Gaza and into the UK for specialist NHS treatment. The Foreign Secretary and I continue to urge the Israeli authorities to address the famine and the catastrophic humanitarian situation immediately.

[Dr Savage]

More than 20,000 Palestinian children have been hospitalised for acute malnutrition this year alone. Amnesty International has condemned Israel’s use of starvation as a “weapon of war”, and the UN deputy relief chief has called the aid blockade a “human-made crisis”. Will the Minister move beyond words of condemnation and commit to concrete action, including stopping all arms exports to Israel, and immediately and unconditionally recognising the statehood of Palestine?

[Mr Falconer]

The hon. Lady raises vital questions. The IPC—integrated food security phase classification—report over the recess was truly horrifying: 500,000 people in Gaza are facing famine. We continue to take the actions that we discussed in the House yesterday afternoon, in relation to recognition and the suspension of arms that could be used in Gaza.

[Alistair Strathern]

I share many of my constituents’ despair and anger about the intolerable suffering in Gaza. Last year, I had the privilege of meeting one of my constituents, Becky, to hear about her heartbreaking experience of delivering medical aid in Palestine. Devastatingly, a year on, the situation is much worse, with Gaza now the child amputee capital of the world and thousands more families pushed to starvation. There have been some welcome moves from the Government in recent months, but clearly not enough has yet been done—nothing can be until the suffering has stopped. What further urgent action can we take to finally secure access to the aid that Gaza desperately needs, and end this intolerable suffering?

[Mr Falconer]

I thank my hon. Friend and his constituent, Becky. Over the recess, I met doctors who have served in Gaza. Hearing their first-hand accounts of the injuries that children are suffering there was truly horrifying. We continue to press the Israeli Government. They must act urgently to lift restrictions, open up aid flows and enable the UN and international non-governmental organisations to carry out their lifesaving work without obstruction. The Foreign Secretary delivered that message to Foreign Minister Sa’ar just last week, and over the past month we have delivered strong, co-ordinated messages with partners through joint statements.

[Sarah Green]

The Minister will know that Médecins Sans Frontières has referred to the locations used by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as sites of “orchestrated killing”. What pressure are the Government bringing to bear on both the Israeli and US Governments to stop using the foundation and reinstate the United Nations-led system of aid delivery?

[Mr Falconer]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. The Foreign Secretary set out our very clear views yesterday afternoon. The GHF is not working and has led to thousands upon thousands of injuries and many, many deaths at its sites. I have heard of the considerable looting that is associated with the lack of UN machinery—machinery that was functioning effectively. I am glad to tell the House that there does appear to be more aid getting into Gaza in total, and the cost of flour has slightly reduced, but there is still considerable looting. The aid operation is not working as it should. The UK supports the UN and its agencies. The GHF is not working.

[Helen Maguire]

The UN has now confirmed famine in Gaza City. More than half a million people face catastrophic conditions of starvation, destitution and death. This is a man-made disaster, described by the UN Secretary-General as “a failure of humanity”. At least 600 daily truckloads are needed to avert further famine-related deaths, yet Israel continues to block aid. Will the Government commit today to concrete actions to pressure the Israeli Government to lift the obstruction, including sanctioning all members of the Cabinet, including Netanyahu, who are complicit in the illegal aid blockade?

[Mr Falconer]

I have been clear already about our views on the vital urgency of lifting aid restrictions. I have gone myself to the border to see our aid in al-Arish. I have spoken to our partners. UK-Med, for example, has been chasing consignments since March. We make these points with force to the Israeli Government, and we have already taken far-reaching sanction action, as discussed by the Foreign Secretary yesterday afternoon.

[Sarah Owen]

In famine conditions, new mothers often eat last and eat the least. This time next year, around 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza could be at risk of death by starvation that is man-made. Following Belgium’s announcement today of new sanctions and a review of contracts with Israeli companies, can the Minister say what consequences Israel will face if it continues to starve the population of Gaza?

[Mr Falconer]

My hon. Friend has a long track record of raising such issues, and she is absolutely right to highlight the fate of pregnant women and those who have recently given birth in Gaza. I am pleased to tell the House that we are still able to get some supplies relevant to those challenges into Gaza, but clearly in a famine of this nature, pregnant women and recently born children suffer the worst. We have allocated a further £3 million via the UNFPA—the UN Population Fund—to try to provide the services needed. We will continue to do all we can with the Israeli Government to ensure that they provide the access required.

[Mary Glindon]

President Trump and envoy Steve Witkoff played an important role in securing the previous ceasefire agreement. At crucial moments, Netanyahu has been receptive to Trump’s wishes; we saw that earlier this year, when Israel and Iran stepped back from the brink. As the White House has a defining role to play here, will the Foreign Secretary, with our allies, urge the US to apply its full weight to its leverage?

[Mr Falconer]

I agree very much with my hon. Friend. The US of course has a key role to play in securing a lasting peace in the region. As the Foreign Secretary said yesterday, he has raised the issues directly with his American counterparts, as have the rest of the ministerial team. I confirm the Government’s full support for the US, Qatar and Egypt in their vital work to secure a sustainable ceasefire.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Calum Miller (Bicester and Woodstock) (LD)]

One hundred and sixty-eight days ago, the Foreign Secretary described the Netanyahu Government’s aid blockade of Gaza as a “breach of international law”, before correcting himself to describe it as only risking a breach. Yesterday, the Foreign Secretary told the House that Gaza faces a “man-made famine” and that he was “outraged” by the Israeli Government’s block on aid, so do the Government now accept that Israel has breached international law?

[Mr Falconer]

Yesterday, the Foreign Secretary set out the long-standing position of Ministers on such determinations. Under the previous Government, the threshold that this House set Governments was whether there was a real risk. We have applied ourselves to that test, and we have found that there is a real risk. Our actions from September onwards have flowed from that determination.

[Dr Luke Evans (Hinckley and Bosworth) (Con)]

4. What discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the Chagos Islands.

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[Rachel Blake (Cities of London and Westminster) (Lab/Co-op)]

T4.   I share the anguish and profound distress of my constituents over the conflict in Gaza. Many of them have friends and family in the region; they are living with that torment every day. The Minister will have seen hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens marching for a release of the hostages and for a ceasefire. What are the UK Government doing to support those citizens and the Opposition parties in Israel, who are being so let down?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Mr Hamish Falconer)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her sustained engagement in these issues. As the Foreign Secretary has said, we talk regularly to hostage families in Israel and to participants in Israeli politics right across the spectrum, and we will continue to do so. We make our disagreements with the Israeli Government clear, both in private and in public, and we will continue to do that, too.

[Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

T5. On 23 July, my constituent Dr Lindsey Fitzharris, a naturalised British citizen who is undergoing cancer treatment, was denied boarding her flight home to the UK from the US, a journey she has made numerous times without trouble. She was told to contact the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for an emergency travel document, but it took three weeks —including interventions by me—to get her home for treatment. How can it have taken three weeks in an emergency to do so? Will the Department apologise to Dr Fitzharris and investigate the matter fully?

[Mr Falconer]

The Foreign Office seeks in its consular assistance to always provide timely support to British nationals overseas. I will investigate the case and report back to the hon. Lady.

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

T6. This week, the International Association of Genocide Scholars passed a resolution concluding that Israel’s conduct meets the legal definition of genocide, as laid out in the UN convention, noting in particular the killing and injuring of 50,000 Palestinian children. What assessment does the Foreign Secretary make of this resolution, and does he agree that we must go further to ensure accountability for these crimes and justice for the Palestinian people?

[Mr Falconer]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her work on these matters. We have seen those reports; the Foreign Secretary referred to them in the House yesterday afternoon. As I said earlier, the threshold that the Government must test against is the one we outlined in September, which is about the real risk. We have found that there is a real risk, and our actions have flowed from that determination.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

T9. It has been more than a fortnight since the Alaska summit, and the deadline set by President Trump at that time has now passed. What diplomatic efforts are the Government making to maintain US focus on the Ukrainian theatre of operations in the face of Russian intransigence?

[Sarah Smith (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

T7. I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement yesterday and the Government’s commitment to recognising the state of Palestine later this month, but with the attacks on the Nasser hospital last week and over 119 children now having died due to starvation, what further steps are we taking to evacuate the most vulnerable? Furthermore, while stacks of aid are unable to get through to Gaza, is the Foreign Secretary keeping under review the use of further sanctions to put greater pressure on Israel to end the blockade of this life-sustaining provision?

[Mr Falconer]

My hon. Friend has long advocated these questions. I pay tribute to the work of Save the Children and other UK non-governmental organisations that have continued to do dangerous and lifesaving work in Gaza. I met many of them over the recess. There are a number of restrictions in place in relation not simply to the passage of aid into Gaza, which we have discussed in this House a number of times, but to the function of the NGOs themselves. We keep a very close interest in this and have raised it with the Israeli Government.

[Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)]

T10. My constituents who have fled Hong Kong are deeply worried about the silencing of democratic voices there and the uncertainty that the proposed change to indefinite leave to remain creates for their long-term security here in the UK. What steps are the Government taking to hold to account those responsible for the erosion of Hong Kong’s freedoms and to give reassurance to Hongkongers who have sought refuge here?

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[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

T8. Given that the UK is the penholder for Yemen, will the Minister explain why the Government continue to support Israel when it has admitted to the killing of Yemen’s Prime Minister and other Ministers and is causing widespread devastation? What steps have the Government taken to support Yemen in achieving peace, reconstruction and development, and in ending the humanitarian crisis?

[Mr Falconer]

Mr Speaker, as there has been a number of different reports on this, let me clarify that we believe that it is the Houthi Prime Minister, rather than the Yemeni Prime Minister, who has recently been struck. The Houthis, as the House knows, are a threat not just to the people of Yemen and to the region, but to international shipping. I have engaged closely with the Yemeni Government, including with both the previous Yemeni Prime Minister and the current Yemeni Prime Minister, who I am happy to report is still alive.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Father of the House.

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[Will Stone (Swindon North) (Lab)]

We are at a pivotal point in our defence procurement. Is the Minister engaging with allies like Morocco to use defence exports as a way to bolster trade relations?

[Mr Falconer]

My hon. Friend has extensive experience in defence and I am grateful to him for his question. During the UK-Morocco strategic dialogue in June, both sides agreed to deepen our defence industrial co-operation. I am glad that two memorandums of understanding between the UK and Morocco have since been signed thanks to the work of the Foreign Secretary.

[Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)]

It has now been some weeks since President Trump invited the leader of the Russian Federation to the United States of America. Since then, Putin has increased his assault on the civilian population of Ukraine and shown no sign whatsoever of reaching the ceasefire that was desired, so Trump’s initiative has failed. Will the Foreign Secretary use his visit to the United Nations next week to call again for real United States sanctions on Russia?

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[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

First, I pay tribute to my constituent Anne Strike for her constant campaigning for the eradication of polio. Sadly, we have seen cases of polio in warzones like Gaza. What is the Foreign Secretary doing to ensure that we eradicate this disease once and for all?

[Mr Falconer]

I thank my hon. Friend for his important question; polio is an issue not just in Gaza but in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Eradication is vital, and we are committed to an eradication campaign. We have helped 600,000 children and we will continue to work on this vital question, including in my region.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

The Secretary of State reiterated the issue of the conditional recognition of the state of Palestine. If the Government want to do that, would it not be better equally to make it a condition that any future state of Palestine does not threaten the right of the state of Israel to exist, and that if anyone carries out terrorist actions from any future state, they will be handed over to the international authorities?

[Mr Falconer]

There have been important commitments about the future nature of any Palestinian state, including from President Abbas, who said that any such state would be demilitarised. There was absolute clarity in New York—where we made the announcement about the recognition decision—that Hamas can have no future role in Gaza and that a future Palestinian state must pose no threat to an Israeli state. Two states requires two states living in safety and security and posing no threat to each other.

[Tracy Gilbert (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab)]

I welcome the sanctions that the Government have put in place on the Israeli Government, as in their current form they are not a reliable or trusted partner. Has the Foreign Secretary ordered a review of the UK’s relationship with the Israeli Government over the last 13 months? If not, why not?

[Mr Falconer]

I set out the detail of the sanctions to which my hon. Friend refers, and the Foreign Secretary has announced a review of some of the elements of our bilateral co-operation with Israel, including a number of steps in relation to free trade agreements and so on.

[David Smith (North Northumberland) (Lab)]

I am grateful for the leadership that the Foreign Secretary and the Minister for the Middle East showed over the summer in their visit to Syria and in engaging with the Syrian Government, especially on the violence that took place in Suwayda. As UK special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, I was particularly worried to see that the violence especially affected the Druze and Christian minorities in that country. What more can we do to work with the Syrian Government to ensure that they protect all their citizens, regardless of their religion?

[Mr Falconer]

My hon. Friend asks a vital question, which I raised directly with the Syrian Minister of Justice and the Syrian Foreign Minister last week. The violence—in coastal regions, targeting Alawites, and in Suwayda in the south, targeting Druze and others—was deeply concerning. The Syrians have conducted an investigation relatively independently in relation to the violence at the coast. I called on them, as the Foreign Secretary has done before, to do everything they can to ensure that minorities in the new Syria feel safe and protected by the Syrian Government.

[Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con)]

Despite the strategic dialogue referred to by the Foreign Secretary, the Government have decided to veto the UK-Morocco power project, so what are they doing in practical terms to maintain the momentum in our relationship created by the association agreement signed with Morocco in 2019?

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[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

Save the Children reports that 61% of pregnant women and new mothers in Gaza were malnourished in early August: a sharp rise linked to the blockade and health system collapse. Will the Government consider enabling the medical transfer of pregnant women needing specialist care to the UK and outline their strategy for supporting Gaza’s long-term recovery, stability and maternity health? These children are the future of the two-state solution.

[Mr Falconer]

My hon. Friend is right, as was my hon. Friend the Member for Luton North (Sarah Owen), to raise the fate of pregnant women in Gaza, and indeed of those who have recently given birth. I am happy to meet her to discuss these issues in greater detail.