Gaza: Humanitarian Situation
Debate between Ian Byrne and Anneliese Dodds(3 weeks, 4 days ago)
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Anneliese Dodds
The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right about the devastating time that the families of those eight hostages are going through. It is really terrible, and it is important to underline that. At the same time, there is extreme relief for those who have been able to return to their families. The UK has consistently worked hard on this. We need to ensure that aid gets to where it is really needed. We have been working on that with a number of UN agencies, as well as with bodies like UK-Med.
Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby) (Ind)
At the weekend, President Trump called for a “clean out” of the Gaza strip, proposing to forcibly deport Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinian inhabitants. That would amount to ethnic cleansing and a crime against humanity. Will the Minister join me in condemning President Trump’s remarks, and will she set out what action the UK Government would take to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Gaza?
Anneliese Dodds
I refer my hon. Friend to my previous remarks. The UK Government have been very clear that Gazans must be able to return to their homes. That is a matter of international humanitarian law.
Israel: UNRWA Ban
Debate between Ian Byrne and Anneliese Dodds(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Anneliese Dodds
I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman’s constituents for their support of multilateralism, which is surely now more important than ever. The pact for the future came out of the UN General Assembly. To me, that is a demonstration of the power of multilateral action, even in these deeply challenging times. We will use our role in the UN Security Council to ensure that international humanitarian law is upheld and that, as the UK, we play our part in leading responses to humanitarian crises like the one we have been discussing today.
Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby) (Ind)
As the hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr Hussain) said, on Sunday the UN’s top humanitarian official warned:
“The entire population of north Gaza is at risk of dying.”
I spoke to the United Nations special rapporteur in person last week. He was in absolute despair about the lack of action from the world against what is happening in Gaza. I implore the Minister to give him and the House some reassurance that the Government are actively reviewing how the sanctions are working and what else they can do to force Israel to begin to work under humanitarian law.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Ian Byrne and Anneliese Dodds(6 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby) (Ind)
The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Anneliese Dodds)
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising the issue, which we have discussed previously in this Question Time. We are deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza; we have reflected that in our policy response, but also in our humanitarian response. For example, in the statement that the Foreign Secretary made on his visit to the region, he committed £5.5 million to UK-Med, which is providing a field hospital on the ground that is desperately needed. We have also ensured that there will be continued provision of the items of medicine, food and nutrition that are required; we will play our part in that.