Middle East

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon Excerpts

Wednesday 10th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

My Lords, perhaps I can answer the question first. The noble Lord raised two issues in relation to Hezbollah; let me try to deal with those. We have made our position clear on Hezbollah. He takes the view that the only people who can deal with Hezbollah are Israel, but we do need to see progress on its actions in Lebanon and we will continue to support the Lebanese Government. We think that is the right thing to do. I am sorry if the noble Lord does not agree with that, but we do think it is the right thing to do.

With regard to Israel, I hope—I was going to say my noble friend, and I think he is my noble friend in some ways—my noble friend Lord Austin would not include me or any of my remarks in what he said about Parliament and Israel, and I do not entirely concur, frankly. I do think, though—and, to this extent, I agree with him very strongly—that we should watch our language and mind our words. People do watch out for and listen to what we say, both here and in the other place, and I would not want to endorse the view that Israel should be held to higher standards than other countries. But it is a very concerning situation and, as I said in response to the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, we are supporters of Israel.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Foster of Oxton (Con)]

My Lords—

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[Captain of the King’s Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard and Deputy Chief Whip (Baroness Wheeler) (Lab)]

My Lords, we will hear from the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I draw attention to my entry in the register on the Middle East and conflict resolution. Perhaps I could push the Minister further on the issue of Lebanon raised by my noble friend Lord Callanan. The United Kingdom, as he rightly acknowledged, has a long-standing support for Lebanon and the Lebanese armed forces. During the last visit I made with the then Foreign Secretary, my noble friend Lord Cameron, to Lebanon, President Aoun—who was then General Aoun of the Lebanese armed forces—requested uniforms and training. These things are required now; they should not be requiring consideration. I press the Minister: what specific support are we giving in support of Resolution 1701 of the UN Security Council, with Britain playing its part and exercising its levers? I am also a bit concerned by the fact that there has been no high-level engagement—visits to Israel and to the Occupied Palestinian Territories— since 2024. We must engage with the Government of Israel to ensure that we see long-term peace and stability in the region. At the moment, I cannot see that happening.

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord and pay tribute to his experience and track record in this area. On the question of the practical help that we should be offering to Lebanon and the Lebanese army, I am very happy to accept his challenge. If there are practical things we can do, we should be doing them. That is absolutely right. I will take that back to the department and find out exactly what the situation is. That does not seem to me at all inconsistent with where the Government stand on this.

On the question of discussions with Israel, the noble Lord will know that in the current situation these things are extremely difficult. But we will keep talking to all the parties involved. We have a significant role in the various groups that have been set up around all these conflicts and we will continue to be part of that, including talking to Israel.