Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2023 to Question 17856 on Israel: Hamas, when he last made an assessment of Israel's (a) capability and (b) commitment to International Humanitarian Law.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We have previously assessed that Israel is committed and capable of complying with International Humanitarian Law. We regularly review our assessment.
Mar. 27 2024
Source Page: Lord Ahmad visits Egypt for talks on getting more aid into Gaza and steps for achieving a sustainable peaceFound: Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for Middle East, said: On my third visit to Cairo since Hamas
Mar. 27 2024
Source Page: New sanctions on persons linked to Hamas-supporting media networkFound: New sanctions on persons linked to Hamas-supporting media network
Mar. 27 2024
Source Page: New sanctions on persons linked to Hamas-supporting media networkFound: New sanctions on persons linked to Hamas-supporting media network
Asked by: Michael Ellis (Conservative - Northampton North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the analysis of casualty figures in Gaza by the Professor of Statistics and Data Science at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, published on 7 March 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Like many of our partners, we routinely use reports from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to monitor daily figures for casualties in Gaza. OCHA rely on reporting from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza. Casualty figures are only one data point of many we use to understand the scale of the conflict and its impact on civilians. Satellite imagery of building damage, eye-witness accounts from hospitals and data on living conditions all feed into our assessment.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential (a) risk and (b) prevalence of (i) re-export and (ii) diversion of UK exports to Hamas.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade works alongside other government departments to regularly assess UK export licences. This includes working with the Ministry of Defence on risks of diversion of exported goods and national security risks arising from hostile state activity.
The Export Control Joint Unit will not issue an export licence to any destination where to do so would be inconsistent with the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including where there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law. HMG can and does refuse applications where there is a planned re-export that is inconsistent with the Criteria, or where we assess that the goods may be diverted to an undesirable destination.
Asked by: Michael Ellis (Conservative - Northampton North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of recent Hamas rocket fire into Israel.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
As the Government has stated previously, for there to be a lasting peace Israel's security must be assured. Removing Hamas' capacity to launch attacks against Israel and Hamas no longer being in charge of Gaza are among the vital elements for a lasting peace.
We are calling for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life. This is the focus of all our diplomatic efforts.
Mar. 26 2024
Source Page: We need to begin to focus on how we chart the way towards a sustainable peace, without a return to fighting: UK statement at the UN Security CouncilFound: Israel continues to deal with the brutal horror and the aftermath of the October 7th attacks and Hamas
Oral Evidence Mar. 26 2024
Committee: Liaison Committee (Commons)Found: Q54 Stephen Crabb: How is a ceasefire resolution that contains not a word of condemnation of Hamas
Mar. 26 2024
Source Page: UK Forces airdrop over 10 tonnes of food supplies to civilians in GazaFound: The hell that was unleashed by the October 7th Hamas attack has led to wide-scale innocent loss of life