Conflict in Gaza

Lord Callanan Excerpts

Monday 24th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, I am sure that Members across both Houses mourn the many innocent lives lost to date in this appalling conflict. I know that colleagues on all sides of your Lordships’ House will join me in sending our sympathies and thoughts to all those who have been affected, including the British national injured in last week’s air strikes.

In his Statement in the other place last week, the Foreign Secretary confirmed that he was in the process of making representations to the Israeli Government to find out more about the investigations they were undertaking into the recent air strikes that were undertaken against targets in Gaza. Could the Minister provide an update to the House on the outcome of those talks and any information the Foreign Secretary has received from his Israeli counterparts?

This conflict has seen death, destruction and human suffering across a large area of the Middle East. Many lives have been irrevocably changed, and futures are uncertain for many thousands of people. We must never forget that the fault for this tragic situation lies squarely with Hamas—a murderous, viscerally antisemitic terrorist organisation. It kidnapped children, raped and mutilated women and girls, and massacred young people who were simply enjoying a music festival. According to Israeli news reports, Hamas has now fired over 4,300 rockets at civilian targets and inflicted the single deadliest anti-Jewish pogrom since the Holocaust. Hamas has deliberately entrenched itself in civilian communities to bring innocent people into the line of fire in the war that it has itself created, and it has acted in a way designed and intended to bring about the maximum amount of suffering for civilians across the region.

The power to end this conflict lies with Hamas. It could agree to release the people it has imprisoned as hostages now and avert any further escalation in this conflict. I therefore ask the Minister: what are the Government doing to support efforts to secure the release of the hostages? Do the Government believe that phase 2 of the ceasefire remains within reach or are alternative solutions being considered? What are the Government doing to make sure that Hamas will never have a role in Gaza’s future?

The UK’s relationship with Israel is vital to ensure that we can support those affected by this terrible conflict and the only way that we can play a role in bringing it to an end. Israel must continue to see the UK as a trusted partner if we are to continue to play a role not only in bringing about an end to this war but in supporting peace and stability across the entire Middle East. I therefore ask the Minister what the Government are doing to strengthen this relationship. Have the comments made by the Foreign Secretary last week, which I am pleased to say he has now withdrawn, affected the trust between our two nations?

Finally, ensuring that aid gets to those communities affected by this conflict is one of the most important roles we can play amid the suffering that is taking place. Thousands of innocent people are suffering and we must do all we can to make sure that food and medicine get to those who need it. I close by asking the Minister what discussions the Government have held with the Israeli Government on the question of getting aid routes unblocked. What has happened to British aid that is already present in the region or en route? Furthermore, what assessment have the Government made of how we can better support the affected communities? What more could we be doing to support the vital work of the International Committee of the Red Cross?

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, the ferocity of the return to war has shocked many. Even in the days since the Statement was made in the House of Commons, we have seen strikes within Lebanese territory as well. Can the Minister update us on the contact His Majesty’s Government have had with the Lebanese Government regarding to the situation in Lebanon? I have twice asked the Development Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Chapman, whether she would be open to meeting with me and female Lebanese MPs who are at the heart of trying to design reconstruction that does not entrench the confessional system but offers new hope.

But, alas, with the strikes in Lebanon, that hope, as well as that with regard to the hostage families, must now be teetering. Indeed, reading, as I did—I quoted it in the Chamber—the statement from the hostage families of their shock and anger at the Netanyahu Government’s resumption of war was really depressing, because it dashes what many have had: finally, the prospect of hope. So can the Minister update us on the Government’s assessment of the process that was brokered by Qatar? Is it a process that the Government consider can still be retrieved or do the actions we are seeing within Gaza and Lebanon now require a separate process? What discussions have the Government had with our Qatari and Egyptian colleagues?

It should be noted that the restart of the war has seen an even higher proportion of victims being women and children than before the ceasefire. The availability of food and medicine is even less than it was then. Yet again, civilians are being treated disproportionately and are also being forcibly moved to new areas where there is no food, shelter, water or medicine. That qualifies as a war crime. I asked the Minister last week whether it was the Government’s view that there is a prima facie case of international human humanitarian law being breached. What actions are we taking beyond those taken last July with the limited suspension of certain export licences?

I turn to the Arab peace plan and the Government’s assessment of the overall prospects for reconstruction if there is some form of peace—even though not many people will be optimistic about that. What faith can we put in the judgment of the United States envoy, Steve Witkoff, who the Foreign Secretary said in his Statement we were speaking to but who in recent days has ridiculed our Prime Minister as a poseur and posturer over Ukraine, regards the war criminal Putin not as a war criminal or a bad guy but as a gracious and good guy, and has said that Ukraine is “a false country”? If that is the envoy’s judgment on Ukraine, what faith can we have in his judgment on the reconstruction of Gaza? What is our position on the Arab plan? Is it one that the United Kingdom is supporting directly or are we sympathetic to what the Trump Administration have been saying?

We have also, regrettably, seen certain extremist elements of Israeli politics rejoin the Netanyahu Administration. This is of concern not just to people in this Parliament but to civil society in Israel itself. We have seen the attacks on the judiciary, the statements for annexation of parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the unprecedented sacking of the internal intelligence chief and the active encouragement of settler violence. Most surely, we cannot have a relationship with the Netanyahu Administration in the normal manner. So, what actions are the UK taking to prevent settler violence and annexation? What are our red lines for our diplomatic relations with the Netanyahu Administration?

Finally, one of the issues that must now be an imperative is recognition, because, even at a time of great humanitarian danger, there is one element we can provide: hope for statehood. We had a very good debate—and all Members were able to express their views, in favour and against—on the recognition Bill brought by my noble friend Lady Northover. I understand that it is the Government’s position that now is not the time for recognition and that they will make a judgment on when it is the appropriate time for recognition. What factors would need to be in place that are not in place now for us to consider that the time would be right? At the end of the day, with the danger that the civilians are seeing, one of the elements that can provide hope is recognition. These Benches believe in this, and I hope the Government can at least move and give more hope to the Palestinian people.