Occupied Palestinian Territories: Humanitarian Situation

Lord Purvis of Tweed Excerpts

Thursday 9th November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I wanted to wait a few moments for people to leave because we are moving from one sad and serious subject to another very sad and serious subject.

Yesterday, I met the brother of one of the hostages. He showed me a photograph of his brother’s family, all of whom had been murdered. It is shocking that that horror was four weeks ago. I cannot believe how that man is able to stay so sensible and concerned about the future of his brother. But it is also hard to comprehend the scale of the devastation in Gaza: 1.5 million people displaced and more than 10,000 killed. We need to stress that every one of those lives matters—every one. We also have to appreciate that two-thirds of the dead are women and children. These civilian deaths are shocking and cannot be ignored. There is a desperate need in Gaza for food, water, medicine and fuel. Although it is welcome that 93 trucks went through Rafah on 6 November, they are totally inadequate to meet the humanitarian emergency that Gaza faces.

Yesterday, in response to my honourable friend Lisa Nandy, Andrew Mitchell acknowledged the importance of fuel, as without it water cannot be pumped, hospitals cannot power their incubators and food cannot be cooked. He said:

“We are negotiating for it”.


Could the Minister explain where we are in these negotiations to get fuel into Gaza? What is his assessment of their likely success? Can he explain where we are in terms of routes for access? Andrew Mitchell referred to the efforts of the American envoy, Mr Satterfield. He also indicated that the FCDO would continue to do all it can to work out whether we can speed up other routes, using Kerem Shalom and Rafah. Again, what is the Minister’s assessment of whether this will happen? What is his view of Lisa Nandy’s call for us to follow the US example and appoint a humanitarian co-ordinator to scale up the passage of aid?

We have heard a lot of debate recently about ceasefires. With Hamas leaders doubling down on their determination to attack Israel, and Israel ruling out a ceasefire until hostages are released, the reality is that humanitarian pauses are, as Martin Griffiths wrote last week, the “only viable” prospect. Andrew Mitchell said that he was arguing for humanitarian pauses, but said we needed to be cautious

“when vulnerable people were brought together whom we were unable to protect”.

He said that they would not be viewed as stand-alone events. Can the Minister provide an update on the recent meeting of G7 Foreign Ministers to discuss the prospects of pauses?

It is essential that humanitarian aid gets through and that we protect not only the people we seek to help but those people who are working to help the people of Gaza. It is truly shocking that a higher number of UN aid workers have been killed in this conflict than in the history of the UN. I am sure the whole House will join in mourning their loss and paying tribute to their bravery and humanity.

I share the concerns in the Statement about the settler violence in the West Bank. As the Minister knows, I visited the West Bank in May and I saw the level of violence then. I have read that that violence has continued unabated. In fact, supplies of arms have gone to those settlers to attack Palestinian villages. Can he elaborate on the Government’s engagement with Israeli counterparts over the situation in the West Bank?

Echoing the comments of Lisa Nandy, the Minister Andrew Mitchell said that

“support for Israel is not a blank cheque”.

He argued:

“Good friends deliver hard messages, and they are able to do so precisely because they are good friends”.—[Official Report, Commons, 8/11/23; col. 142.]


The Statement acknowledged the importance of international law, so can the Minster state when the protection of hospitals, schools and refugee camps was raised with the Israeli Government? What response was given?

Lisa Nandy called on the Government to join Labour in calling for

“an emergency plan to support the children of Gaza”.—[Official Report, Commons, 8/11/23; col. 141.]

More children have died in Gaza in four weeks than in all of the world’s conflicts in each of the last three years. It is a children’s war, with a million caught up in the devastation, orphaned and displaced, sleeping outside as the weather grows colder, short of food and forced to drink dirty water. In his response, Andrew Mitchell mentioned that he had met UNICEF yesterday. I hope the Minister can tell us what the outcome of those discussions were. How will the Government ensure that the priority of children, which Andrew Mitchell mentioned, is recognised fully in all the humanitarian work we do? Without a long-term, co-ordinated plan for the children of Gaza, the cycle of violence will not be broken. We must do more, and show that we are doing more and that we care.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, I too thank the Government for the Statement. I commend its tone and the way that the Minister for Development responded in the House of Commons. I am sure the Minister in this place will do so in his characteristic way today. I wish to say at the outset that this is in stark contrast with the polarising terms used by the Home Secretary this week.

On 19 October, on behalf of these Benches, I called for us to support the UN Secretary-General’s call for a cessation of hostilities so that life-saving aid, food and water are provided and restored to Gaza, and to allow for this to be enduring, to lead to a ceasefire and for intense diplomatic activity to be carried out to prevent a wider escalation. We know, and we are hard-headed enough to know, that this is incredibly difficult, because we do not accept Hamas’s legitimacy to continue within Gaza and we also wish to see a situation where the rockets can stop and the hostages are released, but equally we need the killing of children to end. Since 19 October, a further 2,500 children have been killed—now totalling over 4,100. More than 2,500 women have been killed. As the noble Lord, Lord Collins, referred to, according to the United Nations, since 7 October 147 Palestinians, including 44 children, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces, and eight, including one child, by Israeli settlers. I hope the Government are working hard to de-escalate the tensions within the West Bank.

There was only one passing reference to the United Nations in the Minister’s Statement. But as we have heard, since the beginning of 7 October, more than 70 further UNRWA staff have been killed, the total now being 92. This is the highest number of UN aid workers killed in any conflict in the history of the United Nations. I hope that others may consider it appropriate that this Parliament has a book of remembrance for the United Nations staff, who work so hard on behalf of world peace and who are suffering so greatly.

I repeat my call for the full replenishment of UNRWA funding, which was halved between 2018 and 2021. I have welcomed the £30 million referenced in the Statement, but why has this not increased since two weeks ago, when it was announced, as the humanitarian crisis has grown? I call for a full restoration of OPT funding to pre-cut levels and I remind the Chamber that, even with the increase mentioned in the Statement, this is still less than 20% of pre-cut levels.

In the Statement, the Minister says:

“I wish also to pay tribute to our diplomats and development experts who are striving to make a difference in the most difficult of circumstances”.


I agree; I have met many in the region on countless visits in recent years. The Government also say in the Statement:

“We will do everything we can to ensure that all remaining British nationals in Gaza can leave safely”.


What is the current estimate of the number of British nationals still in Gaza who have not left? Can the Government estimate how many British nationals in Lebanon have followed some of the diplomats and left the country after the guidance and advice from the Government?

The Statement also says that the Government have

“repeatedly stressed that Israel must take every precaution to minimise civilian casualties in line with international humanitarian law”.

Why did the Government feel it necessary to remind the Israeli Government of this? The Statement says:

“We continue to press Israel to ensure that its campaign is targeted against Hamas leaders, militants and military infrastructure”.


I am equally concerned that the Government feel the need to stress this regarding the Israeli Government’s tactics and actions. Will the Government publish their legal position on what they consider to be international humanitarian law regarding this conflict? We have seen atrocities by Hamas; they are clear and determined. Those responsible need be prosecuted and if necessary brought to the ICC, but we also need clarity on international law.

Finally, the Government say:

“The urgency of a political track—extraordinarily difficult today—has never been more clear”.


I agree, but it can only be done during a cessation and then an enduring ceasefire with monitoring and verifiable progress, which not only removes Hamas’ military capacity but, as I saw in Mosul when I visited northern Iraq many times, creates the hope for civilians in Gaza that there will be a future without Hamas—that it will be safe and secure, and services will be restored.

In 2018, the UK endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration after many years of campaigning by many Members of this House. We welcome the Government’s endorsement of the declaration. The Government of Israel continue not to endorse that. We know that Hamas leaders need to be prosecuted for abusing schools and other learning facilities, particularly those operated by the UN. Will the Government make this a priority to ensure that the learning areas and children of Gaza are the absolute focus of a humanitarian presence? There is no reference to this in the Minister’s Statement, so will he state who the UK representative is at today’s Paris conference on humanitarian relief co-ordination?

I close by asking the Minister if he will agree with me on one point—the quote from the Government when we endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration. They said:

“The provision of education in conflict zones and humanitarian situations puts affected populations back on track, establishes routine and purpose, shapes belief in the future, and supports the process of reconstruction”. [Official Report, Commons, 23/4/18; col. 18WS]


We will desperately need that, and if the UK can do anything, it can be a lead on these issues.