Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of South Africa's relationship with the proscribed terrorist organisation Hamas, and the statements of support for Hamas by former ANC minister Ronnie Kasrils.

We are clear with South Africa that Hamas are a proscribed terrorist organisation by the UK. Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas in line with International Humanitarian Law, as we have said from the outset. The vital elements for a lasting peace include the release of all hostages; the formation of a new Palestinian Government for the West Bank and Gaza, accompanied by an international support package; removing Hamas's capacity to launch attacks against Israel; Hamas no longer being in charge of Gaza; and a political horizon which provides a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution.