FRIDAY 23 OCTOBER 2015
- Jim Cunningham: What recent representations has Foreign Secretary received from his Israeli counterpart on the recent violence in that region; and will he make a statement?
Commons Written Answers
END
THURSDAY 22 OCTOBER 2015
- Nicholas Soames: What support is Foreign Secretary giving to EU proposals to provide sea access to Gaza?
- Hilary Benn: What recent discussions has Foreign Secretary had with the Israeli government on the use of force by Israeli security personnel in response to protests?
- Hilary Benn: What recent discussions has Foreign Secretary had with the Palestinian Authority on action to prevent terrorist attacks in Israel?
Nos 1-3 Commons Written Asnwers
END
WEDNESDAY 21 OCTOBER 2015
- Questions to the Prime Minister:
– David Jones: Given the increasing violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, will my right hon. Friend wish the United Nations Secretary-General well on his visit to Jerusalem today? Does he agree with him when he says that “walls, checkpoints, harsh responses by the security forces and house demolitions” cannot achieve the peace that Israel desires?
– David Cameron: I would agree that of course those things do not lead to peace, and what is required is a peace process to deliver a two-state solution. We will all have seen appalling murders on our television screens—knife stabbings of entirely innocent people in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel—and that is completely unacceptable. We need to make sure that this peace process gets going on a genuine basis of a two-state solution.
Commons Oral Answers
- Sir Nicholas Soames: What representations has Foreign Secretary made to the Israeli government on the planned demolition of the village of Umm al-Hiran?
- Andrew Rosindell: What discussions has Foreign Secretary had with his Israeli counterparts on recent outbreaks of violence in Israel and Palestine?
- Andrew Rosindell: What discussions has Foreign Secretary had with his Israeli counterpart on the recent conflict at Temple Mount?
- Ben Howlett: Will the Foreign Secretary take a greater role in facilitating a two state solution in Israel?
- Liam Byrne: What recent discussions has Foreign Secretary had with Israeli and Palestinian authorities on measures to reduce hostilities?
- Andrew Rosindell: What assessment has Foreign Secretary made of the implications for the Israeli/Palestine peace process of Mahmoud Abbas’s speech at the United Nations on 30 September 2015?
- Liam Byrne: How many of the recommendations of the report on children in military custody published by the FCO in June 2012 have been implemented?
- Sir Nicholas Soames: How many of the recommendations of the 2011 report on Palestinian children in military custody, funded by the FCO, have been carried out?
- Sir Nicholas Soames: What recent assessment has DfID Secretary made of the humanitarian situation in Occupied Palestinian Territory?
- Andrew Smith: What (a) advice and (b) guidance does the Department for Communties and Local Government give on the risks of (i) investment in and (ii) business with Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian territory?
Nos 2-11 Commons Written Answers
- Baroness Tonge: What representations are HMG making to the government of Israel to ensure that Gaza fishermen have access to at least nine nautical miles offshore in winter to fish in depths that allow them to catch sufficient fish for their income?
Lords Written Answers
TUESDAY 20 OCTOBER 2015
- Questions to the Foreign Secretary:
– Oliver Dowden: What assessment has he made of the implications for his policies of recent violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories?
– Tobias Ellwood: We are deeply concerned by the recent violence and terrorist attacks across the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. Our immediate focus is on urging all sides to encourage calm, take steps to de-escalate and avoid any measures that could further inflame the situation.
– Oliver Dowden: Does the Minister agree that there can be no justification whatsoever for random terror attacks on Israelis in the streets of Israel? They are just like us: normal people trying to go about their ordinary lives. We should be absolutely clear in condemning that sort of activity?
– TB: I absolutely concur with my hon. Friend and condemn the violence that has taken place across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. There is no place for the sorts of terrorist attacks we have seen, and the effect they are having on innocent civilians’ sense of safety is appalling.
– Sir Gerald Kaufman: Are not the deaths of an Eritrean immigrant who was just murdered in Beersheba by Israeli thugs, the deaths of seven Israelis and the deaths of 40 Palestinians the direct consequence of Netanyahu’s refusal to grant freedom to Palestine, the illegal wall, the illegal settlements, the 500 check points and the persistent desecration of the al-Aqsa mosque by Israeli settlers? Will the Government take action to get Netanyahu to the conference table?
– TB: We recognise that there are frustrations due to the lack of progress towards peace, and we share those frustrations. The peace process was launched more than two decades ago, yet we still have not achieved the two-state solution that was envisaged, but there is absolutely no justification for the sorts of attacks we have seen.
– Peter Bone: Does the Minister agree that it certainly does not help that the Palestinian Authority encourages incitement against Israel?
– TB: President Abbas has condemned the use of violence and reiterated the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to reaching a political solution by peaceful means. We have seen tensions spike in the past, but it does seem different this time, with young people seemingly unafraid of death and brandishing knives, knowing what the consequences will be. The pattern so far has been one of lone wolf, low-tech attacks, but the escalation and the tensions are certainly worrying.
– Jim Cunningham: What discussions has the Minister had with the Israeli Prime Minister regarding the Gaza reconstruction mechanism? One hundred thousand people have been displaced, and no homes have been built since July. What are we doing about that?
– TB: The hon. Gentleman will be aware that Prime Minister Netanyahu visited recently. We have been making every effort to promote calm. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have spoken to key regional leaders over the recent weeks, and British officials have been pressing both sides to take steps to de-escalate the situation.
– John Howell: What assessment has the Minister made about the significant damage to the holy site of Joseph’s tomb at Nablus, which was destroyed by up to 100 Palestinian rioters?
– TB: I strongly condemn the burning of the tomb of Joseph in Nablus. The basic right of freedom to worship in safety and security should be protected for all. We have called for a swift and transparent investigation into the incident and for those responsible to be brought to justice.
– Louise Ellman: As Israeli civilians are being stabbed and murdered by Palestinians on virtually a daily basis, a Rafah cleric, in his sermon on 9 October, brandished a knife and called for Palestinians to slaughter Jews in a holy war. Is it not time that the nature of this incitement was recognised and combated if there is ever going to be hope for peace and justice?
– TB: As I say, the Foreign Secretary spoke to President Abbas last week. We are encouraging him to work with Prime Minister Netanyahu. We are also aware that the US is looking at the situation very closely, and Secretary Kerry is ready to visit the region when appropriate.
– Neil Parish: Earlier this month, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas proclaimed: “We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem…With the help of Allah, every martyr will be in heaven, and every wounded will get his reward. ”Does my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary share my concern that such provocative remarks have fuelled the recent wave of deadly attacks on Israel? What more can we do to help?
– TB: There has been too much provocation on both sides. The current violence underlines the fact that a lasting resolution that ends the occupation and delivers peace for Israelis and Palestinians is long overdue. We have been round this buoy many times. The Oslo accords seem in the far distant past, and the tensions are ratcheting up again. We call on both sides to come together.
– Richard Burden: Does the Minister agree that all murders and attacks on civilians are unacceptable? That includes knife attacks on Israeli civilians and also settler attacks on Palestinian civilians that have been running into the hundreds for several years now. Will he join Amnesty International, Israeli human rights organisations and the United Nations in expressing concern at the increasing use of live ammunition by Israeli troops and police, even when life and limb are not immediately under threat, because that fuels a lot of the tension that we are seeing now?
– TB: We can recall what has happened in the past when the violence has ratcheted up to the levels that we are seeing today. That is why we are urging all sides to come together to avoid what we have seen in the past.
– Sir Eric Pickles: Does my hon. Friend recall the words of our right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in his speech to the Knesset last year, when he said,
“I will always stand up for the right of Israel to defend its citizens. A right enshrined in international law, in natural justice and fundamental morality”?
Does my hon. Friend believe that it is now time for us to review our relationship with the Palestinian authorities? Would it not be better to pay directly to the projects themselves rather than through the Palestinian authorities so that British taxpayers could have a better assurance that the money is going to Palestinians rather than being siphoned off as a stipend to terrorists?
– TB: My right hon. Friend articulates the strength of the tensions and the need for us to come together. As I say, peace has eluded that country and the Palestinian authorities for years now. It is important that we take advantage of John Kerry’s offer to visit the region in the very near future.
– Sir Alan Duncan: We have today seen the well-worn exchange of differing opinions on Israel and Palestine. Whatever the tit-for-tat arguments might be, does the Foreign Secretary accept that the fundamental moral principle beneath all this is that Israel’s annexation of its neighbours’ land through settlement building is illegal, and that there is no place, either in this argument or in this House, for those who will not publicly admit to that principle?
– Philip Hammond: I am not going to define who can and who cannot take part in the argument, but we believe that settlement building breaches international law and that it is essential that we do not allow the facts on the ground to make impossible a two-state solution, which we all fervently hope will be the ultimate solution to the Palestine question.
Commons Oral Answers
- Hilary Benn: With reference to pages three and four of the United Kingdom Strategic Export Controls Annual Report 2014, will the policy regarding Israel as of the end of 2014 remain in place?
- David Jones: Has the Foreign Secretary made representations to the Israeli authorities in the aftermath of the deaths of Saad Riham and Ali Dawabsheh?
Nos 2-3 Commons Written Answers
END
MONDAY 19 OCTOBER 2015
- Rushanara Ali: What steps is the Government taking to support economic growth in the Palestinian Territories?
- David Mowat: What information has Foreign Secretary received from the Israeli authorities about progress in prosecuting the perpetrators of the arson attack in the Palestinian village of Duma in July 2015?
- Mark Pritchard: What assessment has BIS Secretary made of the compatibility of the labelling of goods produced in Israeli settlements with World Trade Organisation law?
- Mark Pritchard: What was the level of trade between Israel and the UK in 2013-14; and what steps is BIS Secretary taking to increase bilateral trade with Israel?
Nos 1-4 Commons Written Answers
- Baroness Tonge: What representations are HMG making to the government of Israel following reports by the Union of Gaza Fishermen that, since the signing of the July 2014 ceasefire agreement, Israel’s navy has committed at least 1,370 assaults on Gazan fishermen?
- Baroness Tonge: What military hardware and components have been imported into the United Kingdom from Israel in the past 12 months?
Nos 5-6 Lords Written Answers
END