Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 16 November 2020 to Question 114286 on Saudi Arabia: Military Aid, whether British personnel continue to accompany the deployment of Giraffe radars to Saudi Arabia.
Answered by James Heappey
Yes. Under Op CROSSWAYS UK service personnel continue to accompany the deployment of Giraffe radars to Saudi Arabia. This capability is defensive in nature and deployed to help Saudi Arabia defend itself from aerial threats to her territorial integrity.
Mentions:
1: John Healey (Lab - Wentworth and Dearne) The UK aid efforts must be accelerated. - Speech Link
2: Grant Shapps (Con - Welwyn Hatfield) Arabia with various different people, including not just the Saudis but the Yemenis themselves. - Speech Link
3: Grant Shapps (Con - Welwyn Hatfield) The pieces may be there, with potential normalisation between countries such as Saudi Arabia and Israel - Speech Link
4: Kenny MacAskill (Alba - East Lothian) attaché in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, has said that it is linked. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Robert Halfon (Con - Harlow) Last year, as Israel and Saudi Arabia were about to strike a transformational agreement, Iran-backed - Speech Link
2: Michael Ellis (Con - Northampton North) Saudi Arabia—this country’s friend—has now said in an official statement that Iran “engineered a war - Speech Link
3: Rishi Sunak (Con - Richmond (Yorks)) I had a very constructive meeting in Saudi Arabia with MBS at the end of last year. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: None An agreement will allow for vital life-saving aid to be delivered to Gaza, hostages to be released and - Speech Link
2: None An agreement will allow for vital life-saving aid to be delivered to Gaza, hostages to be released and - Speech Link
3: None Netanyahu and other senior Israeli political leaders, as well as with leaders in Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Saudi - Speech Link
4: None Israel must limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes - Speech Link
5: None We trebled our aid commitment this financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: None An agreement will allow for vital life-saving aid to be delivered to Gaza and get hostages out. - Speech Link
2: None Netanyahu and other senior Israeli political leaders, as well as with leaders in Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Saudi - Speech Link
3: None Israel must limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes - Speech Link
4: None We trebled our aid commitment this financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: None An agreement will allow for vital life-saving aid to be delivered to Gaza and get hostages out. - Speech Link
2: None Netanyahu and other senior Israeli political leaders, as well as with leaders in Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Saudi - Speech Link
3: None Israel must limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes - Speech Link
4: None We trebled our aid commitment this financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: None An agreement will allow for vital life-saving aid to be delivered to Gaza and get hostages out. - Speech Link
2: None Netanyahu and other senior Israeli political leaders, as well as with leaders in Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Saudi - Speech Link
3: None Israel must limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes - Speech Link
4: None We trebled our aid commitment this financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Earl of Minto (Con - Excepted Hereditary) Arabia, the only people they are robbing are innocent Yemenis whose food and aid arrives via the Red - Speech Link
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel to discontinue their military action in Palestine, and what steps they are taking to assist Palestinian civilians.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
Vital steps 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.
The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have reiterated these messages in their contacts with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other senior Israeli political leaders, as well as leaders in Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon in recent weeks.
Palestinian civilians are facing a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.. We have trebled our aid commitment for this financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid in and open more crossings.
We have reiterated the need for Israel to open more crossing points into Gaza, for Nitzana and Kerem Shalom to be open for longer, and for Israel to support the UN to distribute aid effectively across the whole of Gaza.
The Foreign Secretary has appointed a Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Mark Bryson-Richardson. He is based in the region and is working intensively to address the blockages preventing more aid reaching Gaza.
The UK is providing £60 million in humanitarian assistance to support partners including the British Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and Egyptian Red Crescent Society to respond to critical food, fuel, water, health, shelter and security needs in Gaza.
Mentions:
1: Baroness Stroud (Con - Life peer) To see this, look at three nations: Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. - Speech Link
2: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green - Life peer) There are at least three such child defendants now in Saudi Arabia, despite its promises to stop sentencing - Speech Link