UK foreign policy towards Israel could become more of a “headache” than the Ukraine war for the Government, a Conservative MP has told the Commons.
Mark Pritchard, the MP for The Wrekin, told the Commons: “It may be a surprise that Ukraine may not be the biggest foreign policy headache for the Government over the next coming months, and I think it may well be Israel and the divergence on Israel with the new American administration.”
He asked Foreign Office minister Catherine West whether she accepted international plans for a “53 billion dollar five-year reconstruction plan for Gaza which allows displaced Palestinians to return, that we don’t see a Trump Gaza Riviera, and it is countries in the region putting Palestinians back into Gaza at the heart of the future of Gaza”.
West replied that it was “welcome that the 53.2 billion dollars has been underlined, and we are supportive of the regional efforts to cohere around a single, workable reconstruction plan for Gaza, and we support the region with their expertise in construction in the region to get going on that”.
Mark Pritchard MP
She also told MPs the UK is continuing to push for “practical day-to-day solutions” on the situation in Gaza.
This came in response to shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel, who asked a series of questions, including “What role is the UK playing in helping to get an agreement on phase two of the ceasefire over the line?”
In her response, West said the images of hostages’ bodies being released was the “most macabre of pantomimes”, adding: “This level of cruelty is utterly unacceptable and the UK has made that very clear to interlocutors.”
She continued: “There have been stops and starts in this peace process, as often there is in these very difficult situations, and what is our role? Our role is to continue to speak very closely with the US and Steve Witkoff (US Special Envoy to the Middle East) in order to try and push for practical day-to-day solutions.”
MP Catherine West
West said the Government has been pushing for aid to get back in, and a message will be sent to the Red Cross following the urgent question calling for aid to “re-enter and to save lives”.
Dame Emily Thornberry also claimed the Israeli government have a “long-term plan” to annex the West Bank, and asked how the Government would oppose this “in these days of hard power”.
The chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee told MPs: “Whilst the world watches with increasing alarm the disintegration of the peace process in Gaza, we were warned in Saudi Arabia, in Jordan, in the West Bank, and in Israel that the far right government in Israel may have no long-term plan when it comes to Gaza, but there is a long-term plan when it comes to the West Bank and that is annexation.
“The international community is well aware of this. They see the evictions, they see the demolitions, they see the increasing numbers of Israeli settlements and the 40,000 people who have recently been displaced.
“In these days of hard power, what is plan B? What is the international community going to do to stop the annexation of the West Bank? Because it won’t be enough to simply condemn it once it’s happened.”
Earlier West told the Commons Israel risks “breaching obligations under international humanitarian law” by blocking aid to Gaza.
Asking an urgent question Green Party MP for North Herefordshire Ellie Chowns said: “(Israel) is once again using starvation as a weapon of war, and today we hear that it has also announced a so-called ‘Hell plan’ that would see electricity and remaining water supplies cut off.
“These decisions coincide with the end of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, with negotiations on phase two barely begun, jeopardising the release of the remaining live hostages, plans for a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a longer term peace agreement.”
She added: “Does the minister agree that the Israeli government is again in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement and of international humanitarian law?”
West replied: “A halt on goods and supplies entering Gaza, such as that announced by the government of Israel, does risk breaching obligations under international humanitarian law and to answer her question directly the UK Government has been in touch with interlocutors to make that point.”
She added: “Humanitarian aid should never be contingent on a ceasefire or used as a political tool.”
