Lebanon: Israel Defense Forces Operations

Lord Callanan Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2026 Lords Chamber

While I was in Lebanon, I announced a commitment of an additional £20 million in humanitarian support, particularly for those displaced by the conflict, making the UK one of the largest international humanitarian donors to those affected by this man-made crisis. I also met President Aoun, as well as with other members of the Lebanese leadership. His Government are taking courageous steps, setting out an unprecedented commitment to tackling Hezbollah, and have made the case for direct diplomacy with the Government of Israel. The people of both Lebanon and Israel deserve to live in peace and security”.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

Over the weekend since the original Statement, Iran has launched ballistic missiles at Israel. Israel has since responded with retaliatory strikes against Iran. Of course, we all want to see peace in the Middle East, and the Prime Minister is right to call for a return to a ceasefire, but can the Minister please reassure the House that His Majesty’s Government will always recognise Israel’s right to self-defence? Secondly, over the course of the passage of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 last Session, your Lordships’ House voted three times to proscribe the IRGC. The EU has proscribed the IRGC, as has Australia. Can the Minister tell us why this country has not?

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)]

My Lords, of course I can assure noble Lords that Israel has the right to defend itself. We have said so consistently. We are extremely disturbed—noble Lords will have noticed this in the language we have used in recent days—about the actions taken in Lebanon. We completely understand the need to deal with Hezbollah, and we think that that is best done through the Government of Lebanon. It is really difficult to understand how the actions in recent days would bring about an end to Hezbollah. The noble Lord’s Government were in place for 14 years and had the opportunity to legislate to deal with the issue of the IRGC. This Government have committed to doing so, and we will as soon as we can.