Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 18 September (HL Deb col 2400), whether they will approach the relevant international court to seek a determination as to whether Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

As I told the House of Lords on 18 September, the International Court of Justice is currently considering a case brought under the Genocide Convention in respect of Israel's conduct in Gaza. This case is currently ongoing, and the UK fully respects the independence of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In the meantime, as I also made clear, our approach to genocide determination does not prevent us from taking action on the situation in the State of Palestine. We have been clear that we strongly oppose the expansion of Israel's operations in Gaza, that Israel must do much more to protect civilians, that Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change and that Israel must immediately lift its restrictions on aid.