Israel: UNRWA Ban Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for International Development
Paul Waugh
Main Page: Paul Waugh (Labour (Co-op) - Rochdale)Department Debates - View all Paul Waugh's debates with the Department for International Development
(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Anneliese Dodds
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for taking a long-term perspective on these critical questions. Given the humanitarian catastrophe, we agree that this decision, if implemented, will be deeply harmful not just currently, but in the future. As we just discussed, we will continue to work towards the ceasefire that is so desperately needed. When that ceasefire is achieved and we see a cessation of hostilities, it will be incredibly important that the reconstruction continues. We will need to see UNRWA and other UN agencies, as well as other countries in the region, involved in that process. A number of different partners will need to be engaged in the very important effort of rebuilding, which the UK Government have discussed with many partners.
Paul Waugh (Rochdale) (Lab/Co-op)
Has the Minister seen the latest letter from the Commissioner-General of UNRWA? It states unequivocally:
“Today, even as we look into the faces of children in Gaza, some of whom we know will die tomorrow, the rules-based international order is crumbling in a repetition of the horrors that led to the establishment of the United Nations”.
Does she agree with him that the implementation of the UN mandate
“may become impossible without decisive intervention by the General Assembly”
and UN Security Council members?
Anneliese Dodds
I have discussed these issues directly with Commissioner-General Lazzarini and other members of the UNRWA leadership, as my hon. Friend would expect. I agree that we all need to do what we can to preserve the rules-based international order. On the possibility of the UN General Assembly taking action on this issue, I spoke for the UK when the matter was discussed at the UN General Assembly in New York about three weeks ago.