Gaza: Israeli Military Operations Debate
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Paul Waugh
Main Page: Paul Waugh (Labour (Co-op) - Rochdale)Department Debates - View all Paul Waugh's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Gaza: Israeli Military Operations
Paul Waugh Excerpts(3 weeks, 5 days ago)
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Mr Falconer
I hope the House is under no doubt about the urgency with which myself, the Foreign Secretary and the whole ministerial team treat these issues. I think I have already answered the question in relation to arms in this session. The humanitarian need has been on terrible and vivid display over the last few days. We are aware of the reports to which the right hon. Gentleman refers, and we raise these issues with the urgency they demand.
Paul Waugh (Rochdale) (Lab/Co-op)
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel said this morning that it was horrified to wake up to the news of the expanded military operation, and that is because it knows the risk that this poses to its loved ones. But it is the loved ones of Palestinians who have already suffered so much that are most relevant today. They themselves know that the annexation and the forced displacement of men, women and children is simply unacceptable, so can the Minister tell me exactly what he and this UK Government have done to make representations to Israel, both about that Israeli aggression and about the 13 new expanded settlements in the west bank, which are deliberately designed to suffocate any future state of Palestine?
Mr Falconer
I can assure my hon. Friend, who has been a doughty campaigner on these issues, that we have raised both the risks of returning to war and indeed the settlements he refers to directly with the Israeli Government, and we will continue to do so.