David Lammy has announced that UNRWA funding is to recommence with Britain sending £21 million.
A video is available at the end of the speech.
David Lammy's Speech in the House of Commons - 19th July 2024
Well, with permission, Mister Speaker, I'd like to make a statement on the situation in the Middle East. I was very disappointed to miss yesterday's foreign affairs debate due to the EPC summit, and I welcome this early opportunity to come to the house.
Last weekend, I visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, meeting leaders on both sides. My right honourable friend, the prime minister, has also spoken to both prime minister Netanyahu and president Abbas. And I've discussed the issue with colleagues from the G7 and of course the region. This has been a priority from day one because of the desperate situation in Gaza and the serious risk of escalation in Lebanon in particular. And I have to be frank.
Britain wants an immediate ceasefire. The fighting must stop. The hostages must be released. Much much more aid must enter Gaza.
Israel promised a flood of aid back in April but imposes impossible and unacceptable restrictions. And there must be de-escalation on the Israeli Lebanese border. I sincerely hope the parties agree a ceasefire urgently. And I've been discussing with partners the need for planning for what follows on reconstruction, on governance, and security, and for reforming the empowering the Palestinian authority. But President Biden presented his proposals almost 2 months ago.
So this new government has not sought to cloak our position with qualifications or conditions. The horror must end now. Mister Speaker, my visit brought home the conflict's appalling impact. I met the families of those murdered and taken hostage so cruelly by Hamas, now separated from their loved ones for so long. I told them that the UK will continue to push for an immediate release of all hostages.
I also met Palestinians displaced by settlers. Settlement expansion and settler violence has reached record levels. The Israeli government seized more of the West Bank in 2024 than the past 20 years. This is completely unacceptable. This government will challenge those who undermine a two state solution.
Finally, I met aid workers from the UN agencies operating in Gaza. More aid workers have been killed in Gaza than at every conflict globally combined this year. Those who risk their lives to save others are heroes. With journalists banned from entering, aid agencies are also a vital source of information from the strip and their reports are devastating. Almost 40,000 killed.
Mothers so malnourished, they cannot produce milk for their babies. Rivers of sewage in the streets. A surge in disease among children. Forty times the normal rate of diarrhoea. Polio now detected.
Looting with one aid truck driver killed only yesterday. Mister Speaker, humanitarian aid is a moral necessity in the face of such a catastrophe. And it is aid agencies who ensure UK support reaches civilians on the ground. UNRWA is absolutely central to these efforts. No other agency can deliver aid at the scale needed.
It's already feeding over half of Gaza's population. It will be vital for future reconstruction, and it provides services to Palestinian refugees in the region. I was appalled by the allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7th October attacks. But the UN took these allegations seriously. I've spoken to UN secretary General Gutierrez and Commissioner Lazarini.
We are reassured that after Catherine Colonna's independent review, UNRWA is ensuring they meet the highest standards of neutrality and strengthening its procedures, including on vetting. UNRWA has acted. Partners like Japan, the European Union, and Norway have also now acted. This government will act too. I can confirm to the house that we are overturning the suspension of UNRWA funding.
Britain will provide £21 million in new funds, some directed at supporting the management reforms recommended by the Colonna Review. And UNRWA supports more than 5 and a half million Palestinians, almost 200 of their staff, have died through this conflict. I thank them for this life saving work. Mister Deputy Speaker, we also look for a pathway out of the wider crisis.
I'm conscious of this conflict's complexities, determined to listen to all sides and approach every decision I must take carefully. Our overarching goal is clear. A viable sovereign Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel. There is no way out of this crisis without a route to both Palestinians and Israelis and join security, justice and opportunity in lands that they can call their own. We are committed to playing a full diplomatic role in a renewed peace process and to contributing to that process by recognising a Palestinian state at a time we determine not anyone else.
I know our aspects. There are other aspects of the crisis that have a great interest to this house. The government's assessment of Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law in Gaza. The investigation by the International Criminal Court and what further measures might help to term malign activity by the Iranian regime. Let me reassure the house that I take these issues extremely seriously.
Our commitment to international law is clear. We are following the necessary processes. As soon as I took office, I tasked officials with a comprehensive review of Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law, and that process is now underway. I will update the house house again once the process is complete. Mister Deputy Speaker, 24 years ago, just weeks after I first joined this house, President Clinton hosted the Camp David Summit.
A reminder that this tragedy has lasted far, far too long. There are those in this house who, like me, represent constituents, convinced the world, does not understand Israel's predicament. To them, I say Israel is in a tough neighbourhood threatened by those who want it annihilated. There is no equivalence between Israel's democratic government and Hamas.
A terrorist organisation responsible for an act of barbarism on October 7th that sought to kill countless Israelis and provoke wider conflict with Palestinians. I fully supported the UK's role in defending Israel when Iran launched its unprecedented attack, and I utterly condemn the Houthi attack on Tel Aviv overnight. There are also those who, like me, represent constituents convinced the world does not understand the depth of Palestinian suffering.
To them, I say civilians in Gaza are trapped in hell on earth. And the Palestinian people have been in purgatory for decades, denied the state that is their inalienable right. As foreign secretary, I understand both these perspectives. I recognise the pain and anguish felt on all sides.
It makes me only more determined to do all I can in this office to advance the cause of peace.
