David Lammy has said he remains determined to be able to speak with Benjamin Netanyahu in the aftermath of the ICC arrest warrant decision.
Appearing before parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee, he told the panel that if he wished to carry on efforts to bring the British-Israel captive Emily Demari home “I can’t see circumstances under which I would not be speaking to the elective representatives of the Israeli government.”
Answering questions on Wednesday, the foreign secretary said he wished he could bring “good news” to the committee about attempts to bring about a ceasefire to free the hostages still captured by Hamas in Gaza.
But he said:”I wish I could give you good news, but I have no news in relation to that particular file.”
In terms of continuing to speak with Netanyahu, despite the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant decision, Lammy said:”I’ve got to be able to talk to the if I’m serious about getting Emily Demari home, so I can’t see circumstances under which I would not be speaking to the elective representatives of the Israeli government.”
Emily Damari
He also revealed that the UK Attorney General Richard Hermer and other lawyers had deemed it necessary to continue speaking with the Israel PM.
The foreign secretary said he had no regrets about meeting with Netanyahu just a few weeks after he was appointed into the role after Labour’s election victory.
“Some people criticise the fact that I met Bibi Netanyahu, but I absolutely stand by the ability to talk to him about access and aid, as I did in the first few weeks in office,” he said.
“To be able to talk about Gaza, to be able to talk about normalisation, to be able to talk about Lebanon, to be able to question on things like UNIFIL or or, or our support for the Lebanese Armed Forces.
“I do believe that those are important matters that require engagement from those of us in government.
“And I think it would be hugely problematic were we not able to do that on behalf of our of our, of our country, of our constituents, and everyone who wants to see a ceasefire, who wants to see the aid get in and wants to see those hostages get out.”
David Lammy meets Benjamin Netanyahu
In his first appearance in front of the new Emily Thornberry chaired committee, Lammy said it made him “quite emotional” thinking about the plight of Emily and those hostages that have some connection to the UK” and “for those families not knowing the fate of their loved ones.”
He said he remained in regular contact with “Emily’s courageous and inspirational mother” and noted “the Prime Minister has met with her as well.”
But Lammy also had tougher words for Israel over issues around the amount of aid reaching Gaza, although he said he recognised Israeli concerns that trucks could also contain arms to be used against IDF soldiers or indeed Israel citizens.
Describing the humanitarian situation inside Gaza as “bleak” Lammy then defended his decision to suspend 30 arms export licenses to Israel.
“I had to make a very sober, hard assessment on whether we could continue to send, under our own robust export licensing regime, arms to Gaza,” he told the committee.
“And the reason I decided that I had to suspend arms that could be in breach of international humanitarian law to Gaza, was one because when I looked at the assessments, there was a clear risk on the issue of aid and access and starvation.
“And two, there was an issue on the treatment of detainees … issues that I’m sure would concern the committee. That’s why I had to make the decision to suspend arms.”
Emily Thornberry (Photo credit: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
On Israel’s concerns about Hamas and other elements hijacking aid shipments, Lammy said:”Israel does raise concerns about equipment that might get in on those trucks, and might be used against IDF soldiers, or indeed, against the Israeli population.
“I recognise that these are those concerns, and that’s why they say there are restrictions.
“As I said, there is now widespread looting. There are no journalists in Gaza. There are no politicians like me able to go to Gaza. I’m unable to verify who is behind the looting. But clearly there’s now widespread criminality.”
The foreign secretary also revealed there was widespread concern amongst all G7 nation representatives about the consequences of any renewed Israel annexation plan in the occupied territories.
“Across the G7 where I’ve just come from, there was widespread concern about any suggestion of annexation,” he said.
“Annexation would run coaches and horses through the Oslo Accords and our desire for a two state solution to this problem.”
But Lammy refused to enter into a discussion about what Plan B would be if Israel went ahead with annexation.
“Well, look, I want to keep hope alive,” he said. “The hope is that Israel is able to secure a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, and as part of that normalisation deal, there is a pathway to a Palestinian state, two state solution.
“I think we all recognise that under President-elect Trump’s presidency last time round, they were able to secure the Abraham accords and normalisation followed with countries like Bahrain, Morocco and UAE.
“It would be a great achievement if Saudi Arabia were able to secure that. But all of us who’ve been to the region know that that is impossible without two states and without that promise for the Palestinian people, and that is obviously where a lot of us will be focusing our attention over the coming months.”
Lammy also revealed there is “a lot of diplomatic activity going on at the moment” to urge the Israelis not to implement bills ending a role for UNRWA in the region “to impress on the Israelis that we think that this would be catastrophic for their own security.”
“Just let’s just focus on the occupied terror on the West Bank and east Jerusalem,” he added. “UNRWA is providing health care, it’s providing schools, not just, you know, food and aid.
“It would be catastrophic to withdraw those services.”
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
He also hinted that British troops could train and support the Lebanese armed forces to secure the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hezbollah.
Thornberry said the UK had previously given “training and support” to the Lebanese army and asked if that would be renewed as part of the peace deal.
Lammy told her: “Yes, and I would hope to increase that support over this coming period.”He added: “You would expect us to be supporting the LAF (Lebanese armed forces) as they try to secure the south, particularly.
“And we want to be in a situation where Lebanese can move back south and Israelis can move back north and we see the end to fighting and gunshots and the death toll that we’ve seen, particularly of civilians.”
